Across Space and Time
by Kavaznya4
Summary: A terrorist, prime minister, assassin, and a misanthropic ace gunman find themselves in Halkeginia. Louise just made a very, very big mistake. Terror in Tokyo x Code Geass x Darker than Black x Trigun x Familiar of Zero
1. Chapter 1 - Across Space and Time

DISCLAIMER: The following work is a fan-based piece of literature. The characters, events, and locations of Zankyou no Terror, Code: Geass - Lelouch of the Rebellion, Trigun, Darker than Black, and Familiar of Zero are all property of their respective owners.

This is my first fic, so please tell me how I can improve!~

"Words" - speaking

Words - Narration / Thought

(Words) - Location

X - Change of perspective

XX - Timeskip in scene

XXX - Change of scene

Chapter 1 - Across Space and Time

(Tokyo, Japan, 25 Sept 2014, 23:54)

6:00

Nine looked away from the timer and out over the city from the vacant high-rise building, a solemn expression on his face. The city stretched out for miles upon miles below him, a sea of red brake-lights and confused civilians. Ever since his announcement to the world, the Japanese populace was in constant terror of the impending atomic bomb detonation. But that doesn't matter now, does it? Not even he could stop the timer, even if he wanted to.

5:07 , 5:06 , 5:05…

The digital clock ticked down on his phone. Seconds, racing towards the future. He truly has no other option but this. The world must know about ATHENA, about the hell they put him, Twelve, Five, and all the other innocent children through, even if it means sending the Japanese archipelago back into the Stone Age.

3:17 , 3:16 , 3:15...

But at what cost? The destruction of the livelihood of a hundred million people? Annihilation of the past hundred years of Japan's progress into the Information Age? Complete alienation from everyone he knew and loved? Five immolated herself to save him, and Twelve, his brother, left him for that cheap, useless, pathetic, shallow, cowardly…

"ARRRGH!" roared Nine, as he threw his phone against the reinforced window. As it bounced off the window and onto the ground, he suddenly felt a wave of exhaustion crash over him, and he sagged against the wall, and on to the ground. He sat there, burned out from the emotional trauma of the recent weeks, before slowly picking up the timer, and resigning himself to stand up again.

2:23 , 2:22 , 2:21

But in the end, even Twelve's betrayal couldn't stop the course of time. Both he and Twelve going to die soon, anyway, courtesy of the countless drugs pumped into them by those bastards at ATHENA. But before that happens, the bomb will detonate. It was their greatest achievement together, stealing weapons-grade plutonium out from the noses of the reprocessing center and forging it into a viable weapon. Even the whole military might of Japan and America couldn't find them, and they sure as hell can't stop the weather balloon at such a high altitude. So why does he bother caring about what they've done?

0:45 , 0:44 , 0:43

So to hell with Lisa.

0:33

To hell with Twelve.

0:23

To hell with the sick geneticists at ATHENA who made me the monster I am.

0:13

"I have become death, destroyer of worlds." Isn't that what Oppenheimer said? How lonely an existence that must be, to have to be the one that commits such a horrible act as creating the deadliest weapon known to man. But, in that loneliness lies a terrible necessity.

0:09

Do you use evil to drive out evil, or do you abstain from action, never straying from good? In either case, no matter what you choose, evil remains.

0:05

So then, I must become evil myself, to bring the evil of this world to light!

0:03

0:02

Eyes focused only on the timer, Nine couldn't make out the faint cry of an impassioned 17-year-old pinkette calling out to him across the dimensional gap.

0:01

Nine closed his eyes.

0:00

The atomic bomb detonated, bathing Japan in a pale-blue aura as radiation was released up into the thermosphere, with a beautiful aurora becoming visible shortly thereafter.

Japan was covered by a massive electromagnetic pulse, knocking out all electronic systems in the entire archipelago. One hundred twenty-seven million Japanese looked up into the sky at that very moment, in awe of the terrifying power unleashed by one man.

However, no one remained in that high-rise to witness it.

XXX

(40,000 meters above Japan, aboard the Damocles, 27 July 2018, 20:44)

Schneizel el Britannia sprinted through the hallway to the auxiliary hangar as fast as he could, with his loyal aide Kanon Maldini in tow. His brother, that damned Lelouch, couldn't just die quietly.

No matter. Once he reached the plane, the Damocles would self-destruct, erasing Lelouch and his Geass from the face of this earth, like those incompetent "Black Knights" miserably failed to do aboard the Ikaruga. Finally inside the vessel, he just had to...

The communications screen came to life, and Schneizel's stomach dropped.

"I've been waiting for you, Schneizel."

...Fuck.

Noticing the guards closing in behind the plane with eerily vacant expressions, Schneizel contemplated for a moment, endless possibilities flashing through his terrifying mind, before his shoulders sagged and he exhaled, defeated.

"I suppose this means you have me in checkmate."

XX

"...Human nature is why I chose geass, and to wear a mask."

"My servant that exists somewhere in this vast universe..." spoke an unfamiliar voice.

What the hell?

I'm hearing things.

"Lelouch, you're contradicting yourself. You, who continually deny the will of others, are standing here before us affirming the will of humanity. That's enough. Kill me now and be…"

"My divine, beautiful, wise, powerful servant, heed my call..."

"Who the hell is that?" thundered Schneizel, sick of the high pitched girl's voice echoing in his head during his final moments.

"Never mind...Anyway, get it over with Lelouch, and..."

But Lelouch on screen did not react at all.

Time seemed to slow to a crawl, as confusion, shock, anger, and finally cold realization shone across Schneizel's face. A frightening possibility flashed across his mind, and he realized

1\. Lelouch didn't react at all to a very noticeable outburst, and kept talking almost as if

2\. He was a recording, which was one of his most famous strategies, coupled with the fact that

3\. Lelouch has a mind-control ability that requires eye contact.

With all of that considered, the only reason why Lelouch would need to divert his attention would be...

Schneizel inhaled sharply as the sickening realization hit him.

He never intended to kill me at all!

"And that's how I came to my decision." started Lelouch from behind him.

"I give you the gift of the words, 'You shall..."

"Bastard!" roared an enraged Schneizel, throwing the slim Lelouch against the wall with every ounce of muscle within his towering 6'7 frame. He moved to draw his weapon to kill the collapsed Britannian Emperor, seething with a terrifying anger.

Looking up in shock, Lelouch frantically tried to utter, "Lelouch vi Britannia commands y…"

BANG!

Schneizel's bullet entered his head before he had any chance to complete his order, causing the Demon Emperor to fall to the ground, slumping against the world.

Looking around with cold eyes, Schneizel assessed the situation before him.

Finally, Lelouch was dead. No person on Earth stood capable of defeating his genius mind now. Yet, something was still nagging at the back of his head.

The self-destruct timer!

His light-purple eyes flashed with recognition, as he realized that the Damocles mainframe, receiving no counter-order, would have auto-detonated a FLEIJA within the central firing tube!

Frantically scrambling in his pocket for the timer, he pulled out the interface as rapidly as he could.

0:01

0:00

Suddenly, Schneizel felt an intense wave of cold dread wash over him. Having overseen all the tests of that girl's weapon, he was all too familiar with the devastating explosion that was sure to follow.

"Kanon...forgive me..."

"In the name of the great Five Pentagon Powers, I, following my fate, summon this familiar!"

XXX

(Gunsmoke, Oasis 250 Miles Outside LR, Far Future)

Two brothers stood, facing each other, with plasma weapons extruding from each of their right arms, ready to annihilate the area before them.

"I guess I can't talk sense into you, huh…" muttered the bulkier, white-haired brother

"Yeah, I've already made my decision." replied the lankier, spiky blond-haired one.

"You're wrong, Vash." growled the white-haired brother, charging his Angel Arm.

"Knives, I will not repeat my mistakes!" roared the other, as the both of them simultaneously fired.

The two beams of pure destructive energy extended out from the twisted, flesh-like extensions of each's forearm, forming a sphere of impregnable force where they met, microseconds later. The brothers, Knives, and Vash, channeled all of their strength into their weapons, yet they were both trapped in a deadlock with the other, perfectly matched. The sphere kept expanding under the pressure, encompassing the two of them in a white radiance before ultimately detonating, unleashing a destructive pressure wave.

When the smoke cleared, both brothers remained standing opposite each other, exhausted, in a 200-meter crater. Unable to maintain their Angel Arms any further, the right arm of each returned to a mundane, naked state, the blast having disintegrated their sleeves. Out of breath, they both stood stationary, panting, before Vash fired.

Click.

With no bullets remaining in the chamber, the younger brother's resolve wavered ever briefly, and he collapsed to the ground.

With a demonic grin, Knives advanced slowly, destroying Vash's shoulders and kneecaps with four consecutive bullets, immobilizing him on the crater floor. With a powerful kick, Knives knocked Vash away, laying the humanoid typhoon out on his back.

"It shouldn't have come to this, Vash…"

"..."

"You could've joined me. You were my little brother, Vash!"

"...were…?" spat Vash, coughing up blood at the enormous effort.

"You rejected my world for the last time. Now, you'll pay the price."

"...Rem…"

"Don't speak that name around me, bastard!" roared Knives, kicking the broken Vash once again.

"Now, Vash…"

"My servant that exists somewhere in this vast universe"

"The hell?" questioned Knives, an evident look of confusion on his face.

"...Now, Vash, let me end this hundred-year charade, and…"

"My divine, beautiful, wise, powerful servant, heed my call…"

A flash of anger appeared in Knives' eyes, before being replaced with his signature terrifying tranquil fury.

Turning away from Vash, and with a cold edge within his deep voice, Knives snarled, "Where are you, you insolent spider!"

Vash felt his blood run cold at the thought of another human being in the crater.

"NO! RUN!" he shouted with his remaining strength. Even at the end of his life, he couldn't bear to let a human die again, especially because of him.

"I'll grind you to dust!" roared an enraged Knives, unable to detect the origin of the offending voice.

"In the name of the great Five Pentagon Powers, I, following my fate, summon this familiar!"

"!"

And with that, a green portal opened up behind Knives, pulling him with extreme force towards its center.

With a shocked expression on his face, Knives fell through reality and disappeared from Gunsmoke forevermore.

"Knives? KNIVES!"

No... He...he promised. He promised Rem he'd take care of Knives. But now...even though he was a genocidal, cruel maniac with an irreparably twisted way of thinking, that didn't mean he deserved to die.

"KNIVES!…knives...Nii-san..."

Letting out a gut-wrenching wail, Vash curled into a ball and cried for his brother.

XXX

(Hell's Gate, Japan, 25 December 2009, 00:00)

"Don't erase them!"

"They're my memories! Don't erase them!" screamed Suou Pavlichenko. Hate coursed through her, refined from all of the pain and death she witnessed over the past 2 weeks, and all directed at the existence that took her life away by shattering her meteorite core. In defiance of the god of calamity before her, she raised the barrel of her PTRD, with tears streaming down her face, finger pulling down on the trigger...

But for some reason, Hei stopped her. He didn't know if it was out of love for Yin, or to keep Suou from having to take a life in her final moments, but he did. Gently pulling the barrel of the massive antitank rifle down, Hei felt Suou relax in his arms. The rifle disintegrating before her, as she no longer possessed any strength to maintain its form.

Defeated, Suou sunk to the ground, a sad smile forming on her face as Hei wrapped his arms around her.

"Wh...where am I going next?"

"We'll be together forever, right?"

"We'll...continue our journey...again...right?"

"Yeah, that's right...", Hei softly whispered back.

"Liar…"

"It's not a lie, Suou….I will always be by your side..", spoke Hei, cracks appearing in his voice as he held Suou's face next to his chest.

"Hei…" murmured Suou, her eyes closing, as she soon felt nothing at all.

Hei felt the gate particles he previously forced in her body flowing back into him, and as her star fell, his re-emerged. A soft smile emerged on his face as he felt his sister's molecular presence return, fusing within of him once again.

"My servant that exists somewhere in this vast universe..."

Strange. That voice…

No, Amber is dead. She sacrificed herself to allow me to destroy the Saturn Ring, and save our kind.

Shrugging aside the thought, Hei returned his focus to the situation before him. Gently, he lay Suou's corpse beside July's, fixing her hair one last time. Turning around, he exhaled slowly, allowing his emotions to fade.

With his emotional attachments at last laid to rest, he slowly pulled out a certain mask from his back left pocket, still stained with blood from his fight with Wei three years prior. He knew it represented who he truly was, the legendary, feared Black Reaper that terrorized the world those years ago. But he grew weak, too weak to bear that burden anymore, and cast the mask aside. But now...now, he was ready.

As he felt its familiar contours bind against his rough skin, Hei took up the mantle of the Black Reaper once more, a cruel smile appearing as he allowed his power to rush through his veins. Electricity coursing through his fingertips, he slowly walked towards the exit of Hell's gate.

"My divine, beautiful, wise, powerful servant, heed my call…"

Hei stopped suddenly.

No, dammit. It's. Not. Her.

Just the gate. That's all it can be.

But what is this feeling…?

Keep walking, Hei. Just keep...

"In the name of the great Five Pentagon Powers, I, following my fate, summon this familiar!"

A massive green wormhole appeared before him, absorbing the nearby material of the gate into its core, expanding at a terrifyingly rapid rate.

"!"

"Hei!" cried out Izanami, attempting to drag him from the edge of the wormhole with her psychokinetic abilities.

Yet, not even the powers of a God could break Hei out of the event horizon, and he fell deeper and deeper into the void, vanishing without a trace.

X

Looking up into the night sky from within the gate, Kirihara Misaki saw BK201's star outshine the moon, growing brighter and brighter until suddenly...

It simply vanished.

"Hei...HEI!"

Misaki sank to her knees, as she knew the only man she ever truly loved was gone.

XXX

(Tristain, Tristain Academy of Magic)

It was the day of the Springtime Familiar Summoning Ritual, and Louise Francoise Le Blanc de la Vallière was understandably nervous. For her entire life, Louise had never been able to cast a single spell successfully. Mocked by her peers, teachers, and even her family as a "Zero", her whole life as a noble had been nothing but constant headache and sadness. But today, she would change all of that.

She wouldn't just succeed with her spell. By the Founder, she'd summon the strongest, most powerful familiar in the world, who'd protect her with its life. All of the other students would look up to her and her companion with fear and awe, and even Eleanor would be forced to pay her respects. Yes...Yes...I can do it!

"...Louise?" asked a certain well-endowed fire mage, who was evidently concerned at the former's strange behavior.

"...ah...Ah?!" stammered Louise, cheeks beet-red after realizing she said that monologue out loud.

The stunned silence of the students immediately turned into raucous laughter, which only served to deepen Louise's humiliation further.

"She's gone off the deep end!"

"Of course! If she fails this, she isn't even fit to be called a noble anymore! Not like she ever was!"

"Just what we'd expect from our Zero!"

With the noise piling up on her, combined with the pressures from the whole ordeal building upon her, Louise was just about to break down, when a savior intervened on her behalf.

"Quiet, quiet everyone! Quiet! This is a sacred ritual passed down by Founder Brimir himself! Show some respect!" Professor Colbert angrily shouted at the students, finally quieting them down enough to begin the ritual.

Louise, finally free from the scorn of her classmates, if albeit temporarily, shot Colbert a silent "thank you" - Colbert simply returned a knowing smile.

"Now that everyone's settled down….Let's begin!"

The crowd roared with cheers, Louise momentarily forgotten, as the prospect of their very own familiar captured their minds once more.

"Ms. von Zerbst, if you please?" spoke Colbert, in a tone of scholarly importance.

The large-chested fire-mage slowly made her way towards the podium amid cheering from the male section of the crowd. Flipping her hair, she expertly recited the summoning chant:

"My servant that exists somewhere in this vast universe, my divine, beautiful, wise, powerful servant, heed my call, in the name of the great Five Pentagon Powers, I, following my fate, summon a familiar!"

A burst of flame appeared in the summoning area, and suddenly a massive flame-lizard came into being! The crowd gasped in admiration of the magnificent beast before them, and applauded loudly.

"Pentagon of the Five Elemental Powers, grant your blessings upon this creature and bind it as my familiar!" exclaimed Kirche, finalizing the contract by kissing the lizard, and binding it to herself.

"Marvelously done, Ms. von Zerbst! This is an ideal summoning ritual, from the incantation to the magic application, finishing with an impeccable finalization of the contract. Take notes, students! Now, let's see...Tabitha?"

XX

As the afternoon wore on, every student was able to successfully summon some sort of familiar or another, from Kirche's flame lizard, to Guiche Gramont's giant mole, to Tabitha's absolutely massive rhyme dragon. The time had come, at last, for Louise to summon her familiar.

"What do you think's gonna happen?"

"Obviously another explosion! Don't you remember who she is?"

"How could I forget! She's the Zero!"

The jeering was almost enough to break her resolve again, yet Colbert was able to come in and stop the students with some...choice words.

"...Louise, you may begin."

"Thank you, professor," replied Louise, steeling her resolve as she made the slow walk up to the summoning platform. Heart pounding in her ears, she attempted to relax her body. C'mon Louise, you got this, you can do this. C'mon girl!

Thankfully, nobody mentioned to Louise that she was speaking out loud yet again, for fear of divine retribution from a certain professor.

Ascending to the platform, the petite pink-haired noble gathered all of her strength, and with all her might, spoke.

"My servant that exists somewhere in this vast universe, my divine, beautiful, wise, powerful servant, heed my call, in the name of the great Five Pentagon Powers, I, following my fate, summon a familiar!"

With her declaration, everyone held their collective breaths, to witness whatever monstrous side-effect Louise's spell would have. But...there was nothing.

No explosion, or familiar in sight. Nothing, really, to discern that anything of any importance had happened at all!

The students remained silent, still fearful of Colbert coming down on them with the wrath of Brimir lest they speak out.

"Professor...may I try again?" asked Louise in a weak voice, unable to believe her failure to cast even the most simple of magic.

"...Yes, Louise. You may try again."

"Thank you professor…" trailed Louise. Vigor renewed, she set her sights back on the summoning platform, and with newly-found conviction, spoke the incantation.

"My servant that exists somewhere in this vast universe, my divine, beautiful, wise, powerful servant, heed my call, in the name of the great Five Pentagon Powers, I, following my fate, summon a familiar!"

"..."

Still nothing.

One of the more brash students dared to let out a snort and Louise's failure, but his actions promptly ceased when faced with Colbert's murderous glare. Still, one had to admit, this was certainly unprecedented. Failing the ritual! Twice! It was simply inconceivable.

Of course, even though Louise was exhausted after two consecutive failed spellcasts, she still held her head high, even though her seemingly-stoic exterior was beginning to crack under all of the pressure.

"...Professor...Colbert...may I try again?" asked Louise with a much quieter, meeker tone than earlier. Concerned with Louise's falling soul power, but unwilling to effectively condemn her to a housewife's life just yet, he reluctantly gave in.

"...Yes...Louise. Try again."

"My servant that exists...somewhere in this vast universe, my divine, beautiful, wise, powerful servant, heed my...call, in the name of the great Five...Pentagon Powers, I, following my fate, summon...a familiar!"

With a burning desire to succeed, Louise poured her soul energy into the spell again. Having to gasp for air between breaths, she still tried her hardest to complete the ritual, in a vain attempt to bring at least some sort of object and complete the ritual. But alas, nothing happened.

With tears streaming down her face, in a quavering voice, Louise pleaded, "...Profes...sor...Colb…"

"Stop this, Louise! Look at yourself! Do you want to die!" cried Kirche, without the faintest trace of her former arrogance. Whenever a mage cast a spell, they used energy from their own soul. The more experienced the mage, the more the soul became acclimated to its use, increasing its capacity to cast magic. Such was why even the most talented mages still had to hone their skills for years before being able to truly wield Brimir's power to its true extent. But concerning someone like Louise, who had never successfully cast a spell before, she had to be near her absolute limit!

"...'rofess…srrr...colb…" choked out Louise, between breaths and sobs. She couldn't fail! Not now! Not when she had so much on the line! Just one more chance! Please, Founder! Just one more!

Colbert was incredibly torn himself. On one hand, he had an utmost obligation to protect his students from harm, especially magical overexertion. However, on the flip side, magic is exponentially empowered when coupled with strong emotions, especially fear and anger. If Louise would have any chance, any chance at all of becoming a mage and having a future, this would be it.

With a reluctant sigh, he made his decision.

"This is your last opportunity, Louise.", he spoke in a firm voice.

A smile came across the pinkette's face, as she wiped away the tears streaming down her cheeks, and calmed down as much as she could. If she wanted a familiar, no matter what it was, she would get one, Founder be damned! With her overwhelming willpower, she almost felt herself becoming ethereal, and reached out with her soul and pulled.

With the last vestiges of her accumulated soul-power gathered and ready to be unleashed, Louise calmed herself, then recited the incantation perfectly, word for word. Powered by the drive in her heart to succeed, she truly gave this final attempt her all.

"My servant that exists somewhere in this vast universe, my divine, beautiful, wise, powerful servant, heed my call, in the name of the great Five Pentagon Powers, I, following my fate, summon a familiar!"

Nothing appeared to happen at first. Some other students even started to weep, empathizing with Louise's emotional struggle happening right before their eyes. But the stillness was not to last.

A massive pressure wave expanded from the circle, forcing the air out with incredible speed away from the center of the summoning platform. Filled with anticipation, all of the students edged forward to see exactly what Louise had done to bring about such an interesting effect!

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

Four massive explosions rang out almost simultaneously, as all the onlookers were thrown flat on to the ground, in awe at the power that Louise was able to conjure out of thin air!

Louise's face fell, knowing all too often that the explosions signified a catastrophic failure of the worst kind. Well, she had asked for a sign, and she got one alright. It just wasn't meant to be, herself as a mage. Hopefully, whatever cheap noble her mother marries her off to will at least be kind to her...

Kirche put her arm around Louise's shoulder, pulling her into a soft hug.

"I'm sorry, Louise…" she spoke in a genuine tone. Even though their families were sworn rivals, Kirche was still compassionate enough to comfort Louise in such devastating circumstances.

"I…"

Louise was interrupted in her response, as she felt a beam of ice-cold killing intent lock on to her from within the cloud. She pulled herself out of Kirche embrace, slowly turned around to look at the summoning platform, and gasped as the smoke cleared.

There were four humans...or at least, they looked like humans.

One was a muscular, tall man wearing all black, a bloody mask, and wielding a knife she'd never seen the likes of before.

Another was an absolutely massive noble, with blond hair, white gloves, and light-purple eyes carefully analyzing her with a statistical intrigue.

The third was a commoner who looked about her age, but with tortured eyes, cold as ice that held a depth well beyond his years.

The final human was a muscled, white-haired _thing,_ in strange armor wielding a huge black firearm, whose angry, hateful killing intent she could feel from all the way across the courtyard.

Louise, as well as the rest of the students, gaped in shock at the incredible situation before them, unable to make a sound.

"Brimir help us…" silently pleaded Colbert.

XXX

Cleaned up on 8/30/18


	2. Chapter 2 - Landing

Thank you SilentXD7 for fave / follow!

DISCLAIMER: The following work is a fan-based piece of literature. The characters, events, and locations of Zankyou no Terror, Code: Geass - Lelouch of the Rebellion, Trigun, Darker than Black, and Familiar of Zero are all property of their respective owners.

"Words" - speaking

Words - Narration / Thought

(Words) - Location

X - Change of perspective

XX - Timeskip in scene

XXX - Change of scene

Chapter 2 - Landing

(Tristain, Tristain Academy of Magic)

Four figures stood tall on the summoning platform, with various expressions on their faces, and looked out for the first time at the slack-jawed group of children before them.

"Professor…?" questioned the shocked Louise, still quite unable to fathom that she had summoned not one but FOUR familiars, and humans nonetheless! Even though she had summoned three commoners, the sight of the large, well-built noble in gold-white robes comforted some of her lingering doubts.

"..."

Colbert stood in place, at a loss for what to do. Such a thing happening was simply unheard of, not just at the Academy, but ever! Unable to even fathom the situation, much less craft a coherent, logical response, Colbert simply remained in a dazed stupor.

Having to take charge of the situation, Louise slowly approached the four men, hesitation evident in her eyes. To tell the truth, she was deathly afraid of the human-like creatures she had summoned, especially the white-haired commoner with the gun. But even though her instincts screaming at her to just back away from these people, by the Founder she summoned them, so she would take responsibility!

Steadying herself, she began to walk with more confidence. Albeit dwarfed by the commoners, especially so by the tall, blond-haired noble, she gradually worked up the courage to draw herself up to her full 5" 0' height and address them directly.

"My familiars…" spoke Louise, before instantly being cut off.

"YOU!", roared Knives, leveling his gun at Louise's head. His expression contorted with rage, having finally located the insolent spider that dared to interrupt his fight.

Despite being unable to understand Japanese, even Louise could clearly grasp the murderous intentions behind Knives' words, and shrunk back while letting out an involuntary "eep!".

X

"Big sister…" whispered Syphlid.

"I know…" replied Tabitha, readying her wand.

X

"You dare point a firearm at a member of the honorable la Vallière family, you discourteous thug?!" exclaimed Louise, her once respectful voice quavering with fury, gobsmacked at the audacity of a mere peasant to pull such a stunt in front of so many nobles!

"You BASTARD!" screamed an incensed Knives, in a rage after hearing the _thing_ that pulled him out of the oasis talk down to _him_.

BANG!

The first shot rang out, and Louise cried out in agony as the shot ripped through her shoulder. Unable to take the impact of the .45 round fired with the velocity of a rifle bullet, she instantly collapsed to the ground, writhing in pain.

"Louise!" cried Montmornecy, running over, and frantically trying to stabilize the wound, and the ever-growing pool of blood with her rudimentary knowledge of water magic.

Out of the tens of students, none of them were able to break out of the shock of such an outright, brazen attack, by a commoner nonetheless! Unable to even move, they simply stood, slack-jawed and still.

As for the remaining three men on the summoning platform, Schneizel looked on with a casual disinterest, Nine with an appropriately shocked countenance, albeit only at not knowing exactly where the hell he was, and Hei with a cold, analytical gaze under the Black Reaper's mask.

Finally moved to action by the threat upon Louise, and by proxy all of the students under his care, Colbert allowed his kind, caring professor persona to fall away, as Colbert the Flame Serpent re-emerged. His previous confusion was instantaneously replaced with pure rage towards the person who dared lay a finger on one of his students, a person he fully intended to incinerate. Rapidly reciting an incantation, four lethal streams of fire shot out of Colbert's staff towards Knives, with intent to burn him to a crisp before he could reload his musket.

Knives scowled. Faced with evidence of physics-defying phenomenon, he immediately deduced that he was dealing with a modified human with pyric abilities, not unlike the monster Legato Bluesummers and his "mind control". Although, he couldn't say that having that person completely loyal to himself wasn't half bad.

Regardless…

Knives expertly rolled forwards, the "flame snakes" decimating the area where he stood only moments before. Feeling the sweltering heat wave behind him, Knives reluctantly acknowledged the power of his adversary. However, not even such raw power could match his century of experience.

Coming out of the roll, Knives brought the pistol across his body, firing three brief shots in rapid succession. landing in a perfect spread along Jean Colbert's chest.

"Colbert!"

"Professor!"

The continued devastating attack from Knives prompted the gobsmacked students to action, as the drew their wands and prepared to cast all manner of deadly and immobilizing spells towards the attacker.

Knives internally grimaced. Although he wanted to massacre all involved with this little teleportation stunt, the unknown variables were too much to risk his life for. Electing to not push his luck, Knives used his innate Plant abilities to release a burst of psychokinetic pressure, disrupting the half-finished incantations, and took off towards the academy wall.

"Coward! He thinks he can get away with this?!" shouted one of the more temperamental students, preparing to launch a destructive fireball at the Knives' rapidly receding form. However, he lost his concentration when he witnessed Knives fired his remaining two bullets at the academy wall and _ran through it_ , leaving shattered chunks of stone behind him.

Although briefly cowed by the incredible display of speed and firepower, the students were quickly snapped out of their reverie as they remembered the two of their own were critically injured on the ground before them, multiple gunshot wounds in their bodies.

"Someone, quick, get the headmaster!" shouted one of the more sensible students, and quickly everyone went into full damage-control mode, Louise's other summons momentarily forgotten.

X

The three men still remained on the platform, in a bit of a daze at the rapid-fire series of events that just unfolded, until suddenly, they found themselves surrounded by a legion of armed guards in full plate armor, complete with swords and lances.

"Please come with us," the guard-captain commanded, anger evident in his deep, baritone voice.

Glancing at the angry medieval warriors surrounding them with weapons and threatening expressions, Hei and Nine backed up slowly, not exactly wanting a repeat of the situation that happened just seconds before.

"Lay down your weapons, and you will not be harmed!" roared the captain, seething with rage at his previous failure, and at the monsters associated with the sort of man who could break through a wall reinforced by Square-class earth mages with just two bullets and a shoulder. Intending to make up for his earlier loss of face due to his gaffe in not protecting the students, he tried his best to intimidate the remaining men into submission.

Unfortunately, the sight of aggressive, angry knights, shouting threateningly in a vaguely-European language, all the while waving various offensive weapons had the exact opposite effect, leading Nine and Hei to the rational conclusion that they were in very clear and present danger.

Nine drew his pistol, disengaging the safety and aiming it steadily with a deadly focus, while Hei brought his knife to bear, electricity coursing through his body, each taking an offensive stance.

"Shit! Another noble!" cried one of the guards, aghast at the "lightning magic" Hei generated through the blade of the knife. Almost immediately, the guards sprung back in terror, eyes wide with fear.

With the tension rising to almost a breaking point, Schneizel sighed internally. Although he didn't enjoy having to break up petty squabbles, preferring to keep the impassive mask of a calm observer, he knew that if he didn't stop the situation now, someone would die.

And that would be very...disappointing.

"Enough!" roared Schneizel in impeccable _ancien français_. [Ancient French]

"Sir Noble!" exclaimed the guard-captain, shocked that the seemingly expressionless nobleman was suddenly infuriated to such an incredible degree.

While the guards stammered incessantly, attempting to make up for their huge gaffe at offending not one but _two_ nobles, Schneizel turned to Hei and Nine.

"Lower your weapons for now. Just follow my lead," whispered the prime minister, in fluent Japanese.

Nine's eyes widened briefly, before immediately returning to his trademark cold, expressionless gaze.

"Alright...I trust you...", he whispered back.

Schneizel glanced over towards the masked man, about to repeat himself, before being returned by an almost imperceptible nod of Hei's head, the electricity within the blade slowly fading away.

Finally gathering his wits, the guard-captain worked up the courage to address the towering Schneizel. Opening his mouth to speak, he was suddenly cut off, yet again, by the arrival of Professor Osmond to the courtyard.

"Headmaster!" cried the guards, standing at immediate attention and saluting the old, white-haired square mage. Flanked by Longueville and Professor Chevreuse, the trio of senior leadership rapidly approached the center of the courtyard.

Completely ignoring the soldiers, Osmond rapidly scanned the area before him. Having been informed of a white-haired familiar drawing a gun on one of his students, he rushed over to the courtyard as fast as he could, bringing the most powerful mages in his employ with him. But, he had been far too late.

"By the Founder…", Osmond sharply inhaled, witnessing the carnage before him.

His sharp mind racing into action, he began to shout orders in an attempt to stabilize the precarious situation before him.

"Longueville, Chevreuse, guards, escort these...men...to my office. I'll take care of the situation from here," commanded Osmond, as he gathered the students, restoring order to the best of his abilities.

Turning to face the three summoned humans, Chevreuse spoke.

"Mister Nobleman…" started Chevreuse, ignoring Hei and Nine.

"Schneizel."

"Mister Schneizel, then, would you and your...companions...please come with us," spoke Chevreuse, her tone implying that it was not so much a request, but a command.

"Fine, then," replied Schneizel, an unreadable expression on his face. After relaying the command in Japanese to Nine and Hei, the trio reluctantly allowed themselves to be led away by the guards, towards the tower

X

Osmond quickly knelt down by the curled-up form of Louise, his black eyes hardening upon seeing the gaping hole in her left shoulder.

"Louise…"

"I'm...fine...headmaster…" choked out the injured Louise, tears streaming down her face. "Colb….Colbert….help Colbert, headmaster…please...". After speaking those words, she closed her eyes, passing out from blood loss.

"Louise!...Kirche! Take Louise to the infirmary, quickly!"

"Yes, headmaster!" replied the redheaded fire mage instantly, casting the levitation spell on her unconscious body, and sprinting towards the medical building as fast as she could.

Looking down at Colbert, Osmond gasped at the sight of the three massive, bloody entry wounds splayed across his chest.

"Jean!"

Coughing hard, Colbert slowly opened his eyes. Shakily pushing himself into an upright position, he wordlessly looked around at the destroyed courtyard. Suddenly, his eyes snapped open, and a sharp pang of fear pierced his heart.

"The students! Are they alright!" cried Colbert, his stomach sick with the thought that any of them would have been harmed by his failure.

"Jean, calm down! Look at yourself!" responded Osmond frantically, afraid of causing the bald professor to lose any more blood out of stress.

"ARE THEY ALRIGHT, OSMOND?!" roared Colbert, frightening Osmond back, being unable to believe the raw fury coming off of the normally level-headed and calm professor.

"Yes, yes, they're all fine! Now calm down, I can't let you hurt yourself any more than you already are!"

"Thank the Founder…" breathed Colbert. Suddenly feeling a wave of exhaustion come over him, he collapsed back to the ground.

"Jean!"

"I'm fine, Osmond…" muttered Colbert, before suddenly coughing up blood.

"JEAN!"

"..."

Colbert's vision suddenly went black, as he, too, fell unconscious on the courtyard ground.

XXX

Cleaned up on 9/5/18


	3. Chapter 3 - Healing

Thank you JHOSUEM15 for the fave/follow!

SilentXD7: Thank you for the review! Even though Knives is temporarily out of the picture now, having to escape the academy under heavy fire, I fully plan to make use of him, the angel arm, and his...unique temperament in this story. As for him opening up to humans, well...you'll see :)

DISCLAIMER: The following work is a fan-based piece of literature. The characters, events, and locations of Zankyou no Terror, Code: Geass - Lelouch of the Rebellion, Trigun, Darker than Black, and Familiar of Zero are all property of their respective owners.

"Words" - speaking

Words - Narration / Thought

(Words) - Location

X - Change of perspective

XX - Timeskip in scene

XXX - Change of scene

Chapter 3 - Healing

(Tristain, Tristain Academy Infirmary)

"...Louise...Louise! You're awake!" exclaimed a certain fire mage, having stood vigil over her unconscious friend for the past four hours.

"...Kirche?" replied Louise in an uncertain voice, her mind still shrouded in a dense haze, unable to recall how or why she was in the infirmary, with a massive bandage strapped around her left shoulder.

"Wh...Why am I...here? Did something happen with the summoning?", Louise apprehensively asked, nearly certain that she had failed and blown herself up, yet again.

"Louise…" whispered Montmorency in a soft voice. "Can you really not remember?"

"Remember?" Louise nervously chuckled. "What do you mea…"

Louise trailed off, eyes widening, and she involuntarily gasped as all the memories flooded back to her in an instant.

Kirche's dragon, the humiliation, the fear, the failure, and then…

The smoke clearing, four terrifying figures before her, and _him_.

Louise shuddered, remembering his terrifying gaze.

She was walking forward, angry...

BANG!

So much pain...nothing like she had felt before. She was looking up in shock, confused…

Professor Colbert was enraged, drawing his staff...why was he angry?

BANG! BANG! BANG!

"Louise? Louise! Louise!" cried Kirche, attempting to rouse the unresponsive pinkette out of her frozen, terrified state.

"I..I...Colbert...he.."

"Shh...It's okay, Louise. Colbert's okay. Everyone's safe now," soothingly replied Kirche, pulling Louise into her embrace, and running her fingers through Louise's soft pink hair.

"Uwahh…" sobbed Louise into Kirche bosom, completely overwhelmed by the traumatic events of the past few hours.

Letting her emotions flow out, she cried and cried into Kirche's chest, the stunned fire mage gently comforting her all the while.

"It's okay now, Louise...It's okay."

XX

Finally, Louise's tears ran dry, as she regained enough composure to cease her sobbing, if only for a few minutes.

"Kirche...thank you." spoke Louise, filled with gratitude for her "sworn rival" saving her life from the hands of that insane...being.

"Thank me? Oh no, Louise. You need to thank _them_."

"Huh?" replied a confused Louise, suddenly looking at two other girls in the room with her.

"Tabitha...Montmorency?"

"M-hm. Montmorency stabilized you with water magic until you could be brought to the infirmary, and Tabitha…"

"I failed," interjected Tabitha, looking down at the floor.

"Bullshit, Tabitha! If you hadn't cast your wind magic when you did…"

"Couldn't stop it."

"Tabitha! You saw the size of that wound! If you hadn't pushed that bullet away from her heart, even a square wouldn't have been able to save her!"

"Tabitha…" whispered Louise, in awe of the quick thinking and power exerted by the quiet, unassuming blue-haired girl next to her. Even if she hadn't stopped the bullet, diverting something that powerful must've taken incredible timing and skill, a feat simply impossible for a second-year student to pull off!

"Anyway…" started Kirche. "Osmond came by, but you were still asleep. He told me to let you know to come to his office as soon as you were awake."

"...His office? Why?"

"Three people. Still here. Have to talk to them." spoke Tabitha woodenly.

Louise instantly went pale.

"W-W-What do you mean, I have to go talk to them! Did you not see what they did! Just one of them took on an entire group of noble students, nearly killed me, dodged an attack of one of the most powerful squares in ALL OF HALKEGINIA and nearly killed him, too, and lived to tell the tale! And you want me to go in an enclosed space with THREE OF THEM?! Are you insane!

"Also broke through the wa-" started Tabitha, before being rapidly shushed by Kirche, her left hand covering the smaller wind mage's mouth.

"Well…", began Montmorency quietly. "You did kind of summon them…"

Immediately, Louise's demeanor changed from one of a stuttering, immature teenage girl to that of a serious, contemplative young woman, as the gravity of the situation hit her.

"Yeah...you're right, Monty.", replied Louise. "This is my doing. As a noble, no...as a subject of the Founder, I have to take responsibility for what I've done. Even if it means...that."

"Louise, think about what you're doing!" exclaimed Kirche. "You've just been shot, for Brimir's sake, and you want to put yourself into mortal danger again just like that!"

"Kirche…I'm sorry. I have to do this," spoke Louise, forcing herself upright, before crying out as her left shoulder, still wrapped in heavy gauze, shifted under her weight, sending a powerful jolt of pain throughout her entire body.

"Louise…" whispered Kirche, a pained expression on her face.

"Dammit. At least let me carry you."

At that, Kirche resignedly sighed, activating the levitation spell once again on Louise and lifting her out towards the door.

"W-W-What are you doing! Kirche! Put me down this instant! Kirche! KIRCHE!"

XXX

(Tristain, Tristain Academy Infirmary)

Slowly opening his eyes as he regained consciousness, Jean Colbert took his surroundings, eyebrows raising at the unfamiliar environment.

"Where…?"

"Oh good, you're awake, Jean," spoke Osmond simply, waiting across from Colbert in a simple wooden chair.

"Osmond..?"

"Yes, Jean, that's my name. Any other questions?" replied Osmond flippantly. As his best friend woke up, his serious demeanor fell away, replaced by his usual carefree self. After confirming Colbert was still alive and well, the headmaster finally allowed himself to relax for the first time in four hours.

Returning a small smile, Colbert finally exhaled the breath he didn't know he'd been holding. Seeing Osmond back to his usual self, he felt safe in knowledge that the danger had passed.

Looking down, Colbert touched a series of bandages strewn across his entire upper body, binding the muscle tissue in place as powerful water magic slowly rebuilt his skin underneath. Slowly returning his gaze upwards, Colbert gave Osmond a very concerned, interrogative look.

"You're fine now, but...seriously though, Jean you're lucky to be alive." responded Osmond to the unspoken question. "If you didn't have the innate magical protections of a square, those bullets would've punched right through you. As it is now, you probably should give it at least a week to heal.

A week? Founder, those wounds must have been deep. Thankfully he made it out alright. If he had any less bodily protection...any less magical ability…

Colbert felt his stomach drop, as a flash of wild fear shone across his light-blue eyes.

Instantly noticing Colbert's sudden change of demeanor, Osmond frantically rushed forward, placing his hands on Colbert's shoulders in an attempt to calm him down.

"Louise is alright, Colbert. She's asleep right now, recovering. There's no longer any risk to her life."

"Thank Brimir…" breathed Colbert, exhaling slowly.

Thank Brimir indeed. It was bad enough that he allowed one of his students to become critically injured: he didn't know what he would've done to himself if anyone died due to his inadequacy.

"...Well then, Jean. I have a meeting I need to attend, so I'll be seeing you around, alright?", announced Osmond as he turned to leave.

"Osmond...wait a moment."

"Hm?"

"The white-haired human...when I attacked him, I felt something strange. Almost as if...as if his body wasn't that of a human's."

"What exactly are you implying, Jean?"

"Outwardly, his physique matches up perfectly with what you'd expect from an adult male. But on the inside...I don't even know how to begin to describe him, Osmond. His body is so intrinsically different than a human being. It was incredibly strange, powerful, and terrifyingly efficient. It was even somewhat self-sustaining, almost...almost like a plant! Also, there was another thing...forget it, it's nothing.

"Jean…"

"I'm not sure if it was the shock of the situation, or something else...but whatever the hell that thing was...it was easily over one hundred and fifty years old.

"..."

A deadly serious expression flashed across Osmond's face, fleeting, but still terrifying compared to his normal happy, eccentric, albeit slightly lecherous demeanor. But as quickly as it came, the cold expression passed, with Osmond returning a cheery smile.

"Well, I'll be going now, Jean. Get some rest."

"Osmond…"

"?"

"...Be careful."

With a wordless nod, Osmond left the room.

XXX

(a/n) Sorry for the kind of short chapter (again). Next one's longer, I promise. Anyway, this is the end of everything I have pre-written, so the next chapter should be up sometime before Monday. As always, thank you for reading!

Cleaned up on 9/5/18


	4. Chapter 4 - Introductions

Thank you gold crown dragon for the fave/follow!

gold crown dragon: Thank you for the review! I'm glad you're enjoying my story so far. Rest assured, these four _will_ change the course of Halkegenian history, for better or worse...

DISCLAIMER: The following work is a fan-based piece of literature. The characters, events, and locations of Zankyou no Terror, Code: Geass - Lelouch of the Rebellion, Trigun, Darker than Black, and Familiar of Zero are all property of their respective owners.

"Words" - speaking

Words - Narration / Thought

(Words) - Location

X - Change of perspective

XX - Timeskip in scene

XXX - Change of scene

Chapter 4 - Introductions

(Tristain, Tristain Academy of Magic, Osmond's Office)

Back in the central tower, three men sat at a large, oaken table, having been previously (and unwillingly) escorted out of the courtyard.

Although they were not explicitly restrained, nor were there any guards within the room, these three individuals were not permitted to leave under any circumstances. This tidbit of information was unfortunately discovered when Nine, having to relieve himself, found two lances suddenly at his neck after opening the office door - It was only through Schneizel's timely intervention that the situation didn't escalate into another full-blown firefight.

Finally, after a _very_ long period of wait, a green-haired woman entered the room to address the trio.

"Mister Schneizel, the headmaster will be with us in just a moment. Please be patient for just a few minutes longer…" spoke "Ms. Longueville", with a tone that practically screamed, "Please don't kill me!".

Flashing a disarming smile, Schneizel easily replied, "Not to worry, my dear. Take all the time you need." His command of various languages and accents was refined by years of studies under the most talented private instructors of the Holy Britannian Empire, so the Halkegenian "language" of simple Ancient French came easily to him.

Blushing, Longueville acknowledged Schneizel with a curt nod, and then nearly sprinted out of the room, rushing to get away from the frightening summoned men.

Turning away from the doors, Schneizel let the mask of a charming, young politician fall away, to be replaced with a calm, uncaring countenance once more. Sitting down, he addressed his unlikely comrades in Japanese.

"The girl informed us the man in charge would come shortly. Hopefully, I should be able to get us out of this mess without too much trouble. If not..."

"Then we fight our way out." growled the masked man in a low voice, electricity flickering through the knife he was cleaning on his lap.

"You speak Japanese?!" exclaimed Schneizel and Nine in unison.

"...Yes. My name is Hei." replied the masked man, with no change in his voice. Seemingly unperturbed by the surprised expressions of his two "companions", he turned his attention back to his conductive dagger, and proceeded to clean it once more.

"Well, that makes things easier. My name is Schneizel el Britannia, Prime Minister of the Holy Britannian empire, at your service." spoke Schneizel, changing his "mask" again to the one he wore in front of the populace of his country, in his rare public appearances.

"Holy...Britannian...Empire?" questioned Nine, confusion evident on his face.

"Never heard of it." responded Hei, still not taking his gaze away from the knife.

"Oh Jesus, please don't tell me you're a chuuni." lamented Nine, a weary expression forming on his face.

"Never heard of it? My country controls over a third of the world's landmass, 45% of the global market, and we maintain the most powerful, advanced military on the planet, and you haven't heard of...Oh hell no."

"Schneizel?"

"No...that can't be possible." murmured Schneizel, a strange expression on his face.

"Definitely a chuuni." commented Hei, eyes still focused on the knife.

"Kid, look out the window." commanded Schneizel. fear evident in his amethyst eyes.

He had to be seeing things. The kid, Nine, had to tell him that he was seeing things. Because if he wasn't, then the only other explanation was too insane to imagine, let alone plan around.

"Did you just call me kid…?"

"Just do it!"

About to retort again, Nine glanced at Schneizel, and immediately noticed that the controlled, calm aura of Prime Minister that he had exuded earlier was completely gone, replaced only by a shaking, terrified man.

Gazing out the window, he bit back the urge to make another sarcastic quip, out of respect for whatever it was that made a man like Schneizel cower back in abject horror. However, he was still unable to discern anything shockingly wrong with the campus before him.

"What's the problem…?"

"Look at the moon." replied Schneizel, his voice still shaking.

"The moon? What's wrong with the moo-Oh my."

The moon shone brightly in the night sky, not unlike anything that Nine had seen before. The reason for his surprise was that next to the moon there was, in fact, another moon.

"Jesus f*cking christ…" murmured Nine in shock.

"Hei…?"

But Hei was already standing next to them, with an astonished expression under the mask.

Knife by his side, Hei softly asked the question on everyone's minds.

"...Just where the hell are we?"

Just then, they heard muffled voices outside the door, the guards blocking the entrance standing aside at attention. Two pair of footsteps, one heavy, another faint enough to just barely be heard, approached the entrance to the office.

"That must be the headmaster. Act as natural as possible around him, our original plan still stands." instructed Schneizel, his calm, calculating demeanor coming back to him out of necessity. Although he was still in shock at the moon development, years of experience in the Imperial Court trained him for situations like these, where negotiating properly under duress was not only a necessity, but a survival skill.

"Alright, I trust you."

"...lead the way, Schneizel."

At that moment, the door to the office finally opened, revealing an old, wizard-like man, and the same petite, pink-haired girl from the courtyard.

"Greetings, Sir Schneizel. It's a pleasure to finally be able to speak with you." began Osmond, in a tone that clearly evidenced his sarcasm.

"Likewise, Headmaster Osmond." responded Schneizel, his calm expression unfazed by the hostile greeting.

"Take a seat, all of you. We have much to discuss."

Moving to sit down, Schneizel softly whispered, in Japanese, "Sit down. He's not overtly hostile, but be prepared nonetheless." Without waiting for a response, he pulled out the chair, and turned to face the headmaster.

Standing across the table from such a group of frightening men, even the revered headmaster couldn't help but feel a cold chill run down his spine. Forcing himself to shrug off the feeling of imminent danger, he slowly sat down as well.

Seeing the small pinkette standing in the corner hesitantly, appearing almost uncertain of her presence, Schneizel felt the beginnings of plan rapidly form inside his mind.

"You come too, Louise. Don't be shy now." Addressing the pink haired girl in the corner, Schneizel smiled, yet there was no kindness to be found in his expression.

"Ara…? I'm not sure if I should really…" began Louise, before being cut off.

"No, Louise, I insist! You brought us here, did you not? Certainly you should at least join us for some _civil discussion._ " growled Schneizel, all traces of kindness and cordiality gone, as his tone and eyes took on a cold edge.

"I...I didn't mean to…"

"You didn't mean to?"

"I...th-that's right...I didn't mea…"

"I do not care whether or not you _meant_ to do anything, _girl_! I'm still here, regardless of your _intentions_.", thundered Schneizel, anger flashing across his eyes as he stood up violently, and slowly approached Louise.

X

"...Hei?", asked the concerned Nine in Japanese

"Let him be."

X

"I...I…" stammered Louise, cowering before the massive noble, completely gripped by fear and panic as she watched him draw ever nearer.

Just before Schneizel reached her, he felt a vicious aura suddenly appear behind him, stopping him dead in his tracks.

"I'd stop that, _Sir Schneizel_ , if I were in your position." snarled Osmond, traces of anger appearing in his voice. His previous calm, collected demeanor rapidly fell apart as he prepared to destroy the aggressive noble currently threatening one of his precious students.

"..."

Anger evident on each of their faces, the two men stood apart from each other, at a dangerous stalemate. However, Schneizel suddenly gave, sighing and lowering his head.

"...Forgive me, Ms. Vallière. I was out of line." spoke Schneizel in an apologetic tone, his terrifying anger vanishing as quickly as it had appeared.

Stunned, Louise meekly let out an, "It's alright", before turning away from the massive noble and slowly sat down at the table. The situation resolved, Schneizel also calmly took his seat.

"Louise, I know I called you here, but these men are obviously more of a danger to you than I had previously realized. Are you sure you want to do this?" started Osmond.

"Headmaster, please!…"

Attention focused on Louise, Osmond didn't notice the cold smile on Schneizel's face.

"You put on that whole show, nearly getting yourself killed by a magician of unknown ability, just to make sure that girl sat down at the table?!" whispered Nine animatedly, in awe of the masterful act manipulation he just witnessed.

"Of course, Nine." responded the prime minister, as he allowed the cruel smirk to fade back into his signature neutral expression.

"For a man who has not mastered the use of a mask can never prevail."

XX

Finally, Louise had calmed Osmond down enough to convince him to let her stay, even in light of Schneizel's "conduct unbecoming of a noble." With Louise sternly unyielding in her determination, Osmond sighed, as he had no choice but to allow her to remain for the discussions. With the matter finally settled, he turned back to face the three men once more.

"Now, _Sir_ Schneizel, let's discuss our situation.", began Osmond, a residue of venom still distinctly present in his tone.

Has this idiot seriously learned nothing in the course of the past fifteen minutes?!

Schneizel internally facepalmed, yet held himself together, if merely for the sake of gathering information.

"Likewise, headmaster." responded Schneizel, easily slipping back into his "mask" of an amiable, courteous prime minister.

"Osmond." replied the headmaster, uncomfortable at being addressed by another noble in such a manner.

"Osmond, then. As you've said before, there's much to...discuss. Namely, would you be so kind as to enlighten us _just where exactly we are_?" replied Schneizel, ice slipping into his previously controlled tone.

"Of course, my apologies for not introducing myself. My name is Osmond, headmaster of the Tristain Academy of Magic. You gentlemen are presently are in Tristain, a country within the Halkeginia supercontinent." spoke Osmond confidently.

"..."

Schneizel's heart sank, as the emotionally over-reactive fool of a headmaster confirmed what he already knew from the state of the moons. Yet, in a testament to his admirable self-control, his expression never changed.

"Academy of Magic, you say…?"

"Yes, what of it?"

Magic?! Well, considering that Louise was lifted off the ground by a mysterious force earlier, it wouldn't be too far fetched. Yet, he would be at an inherent disadvantage without such an asset at his disposal. Regardless…

"..Nothing of importance. So then, Louise, you must be a student here, yes?" asked Schneizel, with a warm, friendly smile. Unnerved by the stark contrast to the icy, terrifying one he wore just minutes earlier, Louise chose to answer nonetheless.

"Y-Yes, Sir Schneizel, you're correct," the pinkette nervously responded.

"I see...Do you enjoy life here, Louise?"

"I-I guess, Sir Schneizel, b-but I don't really see how that's relevant…"

"Please bear with me for a moment, Ms. Vallière. I merely have a simple question about the course material here. That's all."

"O-Okay…"

Schneizel turned to the side towards Hei, a friendly smile still across face. In Japanese, he told the Black Reaper, "I am going to ask why we were brought here. If you detect any hint of deception from the older one, kill both of them immediately."

Returning only a simple, slight nod of his head, Hei acknowledged the statement.

Maintaining the same kind, friendly expression, Schneizel simply asked, "Forgive me for any cultural misunderstandings, Ms. Vallière, but does your country normally condone kidnapping people against their wills as standard school curriculum?"

Louise visibly shrunk back in shock, completely unprepared for the vicious verbal surprise attack. At a loss at how to respond, she could only stammer incoherently, until Osmond stepped in.

Hook...

"That's quite enough, _Sir_ Schneizel. I _will not_ stand for you harassing my students, or acting in such a discourteous, uncivilized manner any longer!", roared Osmond, his black eyes glinting with ferocious anger yet again.

Line...

"My apologies, _headmaster_." responded Schneizel calmly, using Osmond's title. "Would you prefer to inform us about the nature of our arrival instead?"

And sinker.

"..."

"Fine then, _Sir Schneizel_. You gentlemen were summoned, though I don't exactly know how, during our Academy's annual Springtime Familiar Summoning Ritual."

Gee, how descriptive. Hold on…'Familiar'? As in 'slave'?!

This complicates matters.

"...Familiar?"

"Yes, familiar. Since you appear to be from a land very far from Halkeginia, I shall explain it to you."

"Farther than you think." mused Schneizel internally, his expression momentarily darkening.

"Ever since Brimir's reign 6000 years ago, every noble has followed his sacred ritual, and summoned a familiar during their second year of senior high school, Ms. Vallière no exception. Her intent at the Vestiri Courtyard was to summon one herself, but somehow, she brought forth you four instead. And given your attitude during this encounter, I'm half inclined to allow her to finish the ritual with you, _Sir_ Schneizel."

"Headmaster!" exclaimed Louise, aghast at the downright provocative proclamation uttered by Osmond. A noble enslaving another noble! Preposterous! Yet she was stopped, dead in her tracks, when she glanced back at the blond-haired noble not five feet away.

Not many things could truly anger Schneizel el Britannia. But when confronted with almost the same situation his _dear brother Lelouch_ had nearly forced him into mere hours before, the mask of the smiling, patient man shattered.

With a cold flame burning behind his light-violet eyes, Schneizel slowly turned to Osmond. Meeting his gaze, the premonition of grave danger resurfaced within Osmond's mind, instincts screaming at him to back away, to draw his staff, to do _something_ against the demon of a man before him. Yet caught in the eyes of such a terrifying predator, Osmond was immobilized by fear.

"Let me make something abundantly clear to you, _headmaster._ " spoke Schneizel in a low, chilling voice. Although his tone wasn't raised, the clear, unmistakable murderous intent behind each syllable made him all the more frightening.

"I put a bullet in the skull of the last man that dared to try and enslave me. I do pray that your _student_ doesn't make the same mistake."

X

Louise looked on, frozen as well by the pure emitted by the blond-haired noble before her. Even before he began to speak, she knew that the anger in him was genuine. Compared to his "outburst" earlier, she hadn't felt one-tenth of the terror she did now!

With such a terrifying man before her, her mind flashed back to a scene from much earlier in her life.

She was walking through Tristain with her father to buy new clothes, when suddenly, a small commoner boy, no more than 5 years old, ran in front of her and tripped across her shoes.

"Cedric! Quickly! Apologize to the noble now!" shouted a slightly older commoner girl.

"But big sis! I didn't do anything wrong! She was the one who knocked into me first!"

"Cedric please! If you truly angry a noble…", the older girl trailed fearfully.

At the time, Louise had dismissed it as nothing but mere commoner antics. But now…

X

As the pressure in the room was about to reach a breaking point, Hei internally sighed. Although Schneizel had been masterfully guiding the conversation, he was still a human, and prone to emotions, nothing like the contractor Hei was. Out of self-interest, Hei finally stepped in.

"It's not worth it, Schneizel." spoke the black reaper, his deep, baritone voice carrying across the room.

Schneizel's wits suddenly came back to him, the violent haze that had clouded his mind dissipating in an instant.

"Thank you...Hei," spoke the prime minister, the Black Reaper returning a wordless nod.

With Schneizel's tyrannical aura gone, the two mages let out a subconscious sigh of relief. Having expended nearly all of his energy, Schneizel slumped back into the chair, exhausted, and closed his eyes.

Yet mere seconds after, his eyes re-opened, as Schneizel comfortably slipped back into the mask of a cool, calm politician, his trademark smile re-appearing on his face.

"So then, Osmond."

"...Yes?" responded the headmaster, hesitant after the terrifying ordeal mere seconds before.

"What will become of us, now that we're stuck here?"

"Stuck here…? Obviously not. No matter how you've acted, we would do our utmost to send a fellow noble home. Although ride via wind dragon may be a bit uncomfortable, we would assist you to our utmost in that endeavor. Where are you and your companions based, Schneizel? The Far East?"

He wants to send us back on merely a this world's equivalent of a rickety airplane? Is he really still trying to offend...wait. If he didn't even mention the possibility of that, then...

"...Wouldn't it be easier to simply send us back with your...magic?" inquired Schneizel.

"I'm terribly sorry. The creation of the spell was in an era long before our time, and there's no possible way we would be able to reverse-engineer such a spell successfully." replied the headmaster in a sorrowful tone.

No possible way...to send us back? No...that would mean…

Schneizel's eyes widened, as the reality of his situation sunk in.

"...But regardless, we can send you and your companions on the way within a day, so there shouldn't be any need to worry...Schneizel?" queried the headmaster, concerned at the unresponsive prime minister

"...So that's how it is..." murmured Schneizel softly.

For the foreseeable future, we're trapped in this world. My credence as Prime Minister of Britannia is worthless here, and my only assets are an electric magician and a 17-year old high school student...

So then, I must exploit every advantage I can, to the fullest extent possible!

Hah, I'm sounding like Lelouch now, aren't I. Regardless...

"Schneizel? I'm sorry if you're uncomfortable having to ride a dragon such a large distance, but…"

"No, that won't be necessary."

"Are you sure? Do you really intend to go on foot? It's really not altogether too much trou…" started Osmond, before being cut off.

"Osmond, when you look up at the night sky, what do you see?

"...Eh? Night sky? Well...there's the stars, and our two moons, Phobos and Deimos. Is that what you wanted to hear?" replied Osmond, growing increasingly exasperated by Schneizel's seemingly eccentric antics.

"Where I come from, dear headmaster, we look into the sky at night, only to find a single moon." replied the prime minister, an intentional cold expression shining across his face.

"W-What?!" exclaimed Louise and Osmond in tandem.

"Now, can the both of you understand our situation?"

"T-That's impossible! I don't know what kind of joke you're trying to pull on us, Schneizel, but it isn't a good one!" shouted Osmond, still shocked at the sudden revelation.

"Is that so, _headmaster_?"

Turning to the raven-haired high school student next to him, Schneizel asked, "Kid, do you have an electronic device on you? Anything will do."

"...Here's my cell. Passcode is 0912." responded Nine, casually tossing the phone to the prime minister.

Catching the device with one hand, Schneizel turned back to face the two mages, both still displaying various expressions of surprise and astonishment.

"Here's my _evidence._ "

Turning the device on and unlocking it, he opened a built in "calculator" app, and slid it across the table.

"This is an advanced magical tablet from our world. Powered by lightning magic, it enables the user to perform a variety of advanced arithmetic operations without the aid of an abacus with a tap. Test it."

Hesitantly, Osmond picked up the foreign object, entering in basic equations. With each successful result, his expression quickly changed from one of mockery, to disbelief, to downright amazement at the piece of incredible technology before him

"A-Alright, Sir Schneizel." responded the headmaster, instinctively resorting to a genuine, respectful address, as the ramifications of an object the three handled so carelessly flashed through his mind. "We believe you."

Schneizel inwardly smiled, knowing that all of the conditions of his plan were finally cleared.

"Then, from one noble to another, you must understand that we require free lodgings and meals at your venerable academy for the foreseeable future, headmaster."

"W-What! That's simply ridiculou…" started Osmond, before being sharply cut off.

"Need I remind you, headmaster, that _you_ brought _us_ into this world without consent, no matter how inadvertent, and trapped us in this reality?" calmly interjected Schneizel.

"..."

"Fine, then, if you insist. However, I must request two conditions of you."

Briefly surprised that the old man was able to formulate a response so quickly, Schneizel nonetheless maintained his composure.

"Name them, Osmond."

"Firstly, I expect that for receiving the services and protection of this academy, the three of you would in turn assist in defense of this school, should the need ever arise."

Rational. If I were in his position, my academy being turned into a battlefield by a lone gunman, I would want his 'companions' on my side as well. Although some of his assumptions are faulty, there's no need for me to point them out.

"Naturally. As for the second?"

"At least one of you must become Ms. Vallière's familiar."

"!"

This...was not within expectations.

"...May I discuss this with my companions?"

"Of course."

 _Of course_ it wouldn't be that simple. Then again, nothing ever is.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Schneizel quickly summarized the major points of the meeting to the two Japanese men beside him. They took the information surprisingly well, with the exception of the "familiar clause".

"So you're telling me...they want a slave as collateral?" asked the incredulous Nine, astounded at the barbarity of the headmaster's request.

"Apparently so." responded Schneizel. "However, it shouldn't be an issue. The Vallière girl is young, overly emotional, and easy to manipulate. Even though she may try to act controlling, she's at heart just a young, scared teenager in desperate need of companionship."

"...That's cold...even for me, Schneizel." replied Hei from under the mask, slightly stunned at the malice of the man's words.

"Regardless," replied the prime minister, "this is the best opportunity we have. So, which one of you is up to the task?"

"Now hold on just a minute, Schneizel." growled Nine. "Why are you excluding yourself, right off the bat?"

"Look at the situation, Nine." responded Schneizel patiently. "These children have summoned dragons and moles, evidently for protection. I'm merely a politician with a half-empty pistol. Besides, they view me as a noble, according to this world's twisted caste-system. Forcing Louise into such a situation would be useless to us at best. At worst...she duels someone, and we're both burned to ash by the opposing mage."

"That's true...Well in that case, count me out as well. I...make explosives for a living." Although Schneizel had greatly assisted them since their arrival in this world, Nine was unwilling to tell him that he was, in fact, Japan's single most-wanted criminal of the 21st century.

As if on cue, both of them turned together to face Hei, who was calmly observing the situation.

"Fine." responded the Black Reaper. "If you two absolutely can't do it, then I don't exactly have a choice, do I?"

"Are you sure about this, Hei?"

"Of course, Schneizel." responded Hei, slowly removing the bloodstained mask, to reveal a smiling, nonthreatening young adult man beneath. The cold, calculating persona of the Black Reaper faded away in an instant, replaced with that of the carefree and kind college exchange student, Li Shengshun.

"You aren't the only one wearing a mask, my friend."

X

Louise looked on, as the three men conversed in that strange language. The blond-haired noble, Sir Schneizel, seemed to be directing things, almost as if he were a teacher. The raven-haired boy spoke a fair bit too, yet the masked man sat in near-silence, only sparsely interjecting.

"I wonder what kind of man lies under that bloodstained mask…" mused Louise. Of the three, he was the most mysterious: She hadn't even seen what his face looked like yet!

Almost as if her internal questioning was answered by Brimir himself, the man slowly took off his mask, revealing...a perfectly average young adult?!

Having expected to find the face of a grizzled, hardened warrior, or maybe that of a mysterious arcane magister, the sight of such a bland, smiling, _commoner_ was the absolute last thing she could've expected.

Looking concerned at Louise's sudden expression, Hei meekly waved "Hello".

X

Finally, Schneizel turned back towards Osmond, ready to speak.

Opening his mouth, he was suddenly interrupted by the headmaster.

"Schneizel, are your companions unable to speak Halkengian?" inquired Osmond, a strange expression on his face.

"You are correct, Osmond. Is there a problem?"

"If that is so, then why didn't you ask for a translation spell?"

Translation...spell? Of course, _magic_. Although he couldn't deny that being able to speak in Japanese privately had its advantages, being able to successfully communicate had clear priority concerning their situation. As a "magic user", he would have been expected to have raised the topic much earlier! If he doesn't get a satisfactory answer, even a man as ignorant as Osmond would tear down all the half-truths and blatant lies he'd used to drive the negotiation to this point!

Think, Schneizel, Think!

"Isn't it obvious, headmaster?"

"What exactly are you implying?", asked Osmond, intrigued at the comment.

He was being far too risky in this encounter - nearly all of his gambles were based off of unverified information, gleaned only mere minutes before. Yet, he had to take one final chance.

"Why would I forcibly take away my companions' mother tongue, without confirmation that they would be required to speak this language at all?"

If the translation spell worked any differently than he had hypothesised with his rudimentary understanding of the Halkegenian magical system, his cover would be instantly blown. Based on the data, Schneizel concluded that the spell most likely converted the host's native language into the translated one in question subconsciously, as with hearing said language. If any of those assumptions were incorrect, he would have to fight his way out of the walled megafortress.

Yet, this time, his gambit paid off.

"Of course! How ignorant of me, Sir Schneizel, I do apologize." spoke Osmond in a tone of significantly more respect. Earlier, he had merely viewed Schneizel as a haughty, uptight noble, but after hearing of this degree of respect and compassion for the commoners in his employ, his opinion had shifted significantly for the better.

"But now, naturally such a spell would be of utmost importance. Would you be capable of casting one?"

"Naturally, Sir Schneizel. I am a square-class mage after all, such a simple incantation is of no difficulty to me."

Quickly and efficiently, Old Osmond recited the incantation, and both Nine and Hei became fluent in Ancient French.

"Can you understand me now, gentlemen?" asked the headmaster expectantly.

"The translation seems to be working properly." said Nine, surprised at the efficiency and accuracy of the "spell".

"Yeah! Works great!" enthusiastically replied Li, a bright smile on his face.

"Wonderful! You two, could you tell me your names?"

"I'm Li Shengshun, headmaster. Nice to meet you!"

"...Arata Kokonoe."

A strange expression appeared on Schneizel's face at the blatantly obvious pseudonyms, but he wisely said nothing.

"Excellent. The translation appears to be working properly in both directions. Now then, to the final matter of this discussion...Sir Shengshun?"

"Li, please. There's really no need for someone like you to refer to me like that." replied the amiable "college student" with a sheepish grin.

"Li, then. I assume Sir Schneizel has informed you of the matter regarding Ms. Vallière?"

"Naturally, headmaster. From what I can understand, it should be quite alright. It's not as if I'm going to be forced to sleep in a bed of straw, now, is it?"

Louise's cheeks suddenly turned scarlet, and she quickly looked down at the floor, clutching the hem of her skirt tightly.

"Then the matter is settled. It has truly been a long and arduous journey, Louise, but now you must form the contract with your familiar. If you please?"

Blushing even harder, Louise slowly approached Li, still looking straight at the ground.

"Pentagon of the Five Elemental Powers, grant your blessings upon this creature and bind it as my familiar!"

And with that, Louise raised her head, and gave Li a quick kiss on the cheek.

"...Ah?" questioned the shocked Li. "Was that the contract, Louise-san? That wasn't that horrible..."

Just then, the Gandalfr runes began engraving themselves.

Letting out a yelp, Li suddenly felt a searing sensation on left hand.

"Ow! Ow! Hot! Hot! Hot!...Oh, it's over."

Taking the heavy glove from his left hand, Li noticed a strange tattoo imprinted on his skin.

"So this is what it feels like to be a slave." mused Hei internally.

"Huh. Neat tattoo, I guess." innocently spoke Li, before looking back up at Louise.

"Congratulations, Louise! You've completed summon servant successfully. As his master, you may take him back to your room - I leave it to you to find him a place to sleep." spoke Osmond with a cheery smile. But internally, he was shaking with incredible fear.

The sensation of runic engraving was enough to nearly make beasts lose consciousness, and Li just acted like nothing! Forget Schneizel, what sort of terrifying man could casually ignore that much pain!

"Y-Yes headmaster!" replied Louise, oblivious to the situation. Eager to get away from Schneizel as quickly as possible, she practically dragged Li out of the room as fast as possible.

"Now then. Schneizel, Kokonoe. I'm giving both of you have near-free reign of the campus. Obviously, you can't eat in the noble's dining hall as a commoner, Kokonoe, but everything else is available to the both of you. You may even consult the teachers, if you have questions, although I request that you don't disturb classes that are in session. I'll have one of the maids escort you to the servant's quarters for now, before we can establish a more temporary solution. Siesta?"

"Yes headmaster?", called a girl's voice from outside the door.

"Can you please come in and escort these gentlemen to the servant's quarters?"

"Sure! I'll be right there..." started the timid, dark-haired maid, entering the office, before trailing off after noticing the identities of the "gentlemen" in question.

X

(Vestiri Courtyard, Tristain Academy of Magic, 5 hours earlier)

Siesta was cleaning one of the hallways, contentedly humming as she went about her work. Although it was a relatively thankless job, being an academy maid enabled her to help support her family at home, and that made it completely worthwhile.

She knew, from the gossip she'd overheard from passing students, that today would be the day of the familiar summoning ritual, so she'd pleaded Marteau to be assigned to this section of the Academy that day. Even though he was just the head chef, he had a degree of influence over the schedule, and reluctantly agreed to the young maid.

Gazing out over the courtyard when she was sure nobody was watching, she witnessed all manner of summoned creatures, from a frog, to a mole, to even a large, blue dragon! Yet, it was the last noble, a short, pink-haired girl that was the object of the jeers of the crowd, that intrigued her the most.

Louise was her name. Siesta had heard of her many times, referred to as a "Zero", who couldn't cast magic. Even though she likely would fail to produce anything spectacular, a part of her was secretly rooting for her to prove those uptight, arrogant nobles wrong.

Yet, with each failure, that hope grew more and more unlikely. Even Siesta was practically begging her to stop from the window, after seeing how taxing it was on her small body. Yet, her eyes widened after seeing the results of the fourth attempt.

Four men stood in the circle, each terrifying in their own right. But although the masked man and the gunman were certainly frightening, it was the two weaponless ones who scared her the most.

For in the commoner's eyes lay a raging hellfire, burning like the sun on a hot summer day.

And within the noble's lay a cold, calculating malice, frigid as a winter storm.

X

And two of those men now stood before her. To say she was surprised would be an understatement; She was practically frozen with terror!

"Greetings. You must be Siesta?" started Schneizel, knowing that the stunned maid would probably stand there until he spoke.

"Y-Y-Yes, S-Sir Noble is c-correct." squeaked out the maid.

"Please, Siesta, call me Schneizel. Would you be so kind as to guide us to our rooms?" responded the prime minister, flashing a disarming smile.

"O-Okay, Sir Schneizel…"

And with that, Nine and Schneizel left the office, leaving only Osmond remaining.

Letting out the tension he'd been carrying out through the entire meeting, the headmaster sank back in his chair, thoroughly exhausted and defeated.

"What terrifying existences these men are!" exclaimed Osmond to nobody in particular.

"May the Founder give me strength in these days to come…"

XXX

(Tristain, 35 km outside Tristain Academy of Magic)

Deep in the forest surrounding the Academy, lay a white-haired man, his back against a tree. Ever since escaping through the wall, he had been constantly running, trying to put as much distance between him and the 'modified humans' as possible. It was only a few minutes ago, when he was finally confident that he was alone, did he allow himself to rest.

As he ran, he was vaguely aware that night had already fallen. But it was only now that he was able to gaze upon the Halkegenian sky.

"Impossible…", breathed Knives, as he noticed the moons; or rather, lack thereof.

On Gunsmoke, at least four of the five moons were visible at any given time, from any spot on the planet. Only once in his 150 year life was he only able to see three, during a double-lunar eclipse. For only two to be visible, directly after being absorbed into a strange wormhole? It was no coincidence.

This...This went beyond any possible circumstance he could've expected. Not only was he removed from the oasis...he was gone from Gunsmoke entirely!

"Those bastards…" began the gunman, anger shining in his light-blue eyes as the realization hit them.

For the past 150 years, he had worked tirelessly to create a paradise, a world without conflict, struggle, or cruelty, one dead spider at a time. Yet, in one fell swoop, the pink-haired girl took it all away.

"For such a heinous crime…" began Knives, his deep voice distorting with terrifying fury.

"The only possible sentence is death!"

XXX

(a/n) Whew! I finally got it done, guys. It took a lot, but the four MC's are where I want them to be. These four chapters are almost a prologue of sorts - the main story really goes into the canon next chapter, which will be released...sometime soon, hopefully before Friday. As always, thank you for reading!


	5. Chapter 5 - Dishonorable Combat

Thank you erinmitchell1996 for the fave, and JLRjones and GustavMax for the follow!

last admiral: Thank you for the review! Even though the story will be somewhat Hei-centric until (probably?) the Albion arc, maybe sooner, rest assured I will do my utmost to show off Schneizel's manipulations. I have a slightly different idea concerning him and Wales, but if you have any others for him, please PM me, I'd love to hear them!

gold crown dragon: Thank you for the review! Indeed, a storm will come...starting with a blond-haired earth mage :3

DISCLAIMER: The following work is a fan-based piece of literature. The characters, events, and locations of Zankyou no Terror, Code: Geass - Lelouch of the Rebellion, Trigun, Darker than Black, and Familiar of Zero are all property of their respective owners.

"Words" - speaking

Words - Narration / Thought

(Words) - Location

X - Change of perspective

XX - Timeskip in scene

XXX - Change of scene

Chapter 5 - Dishonorable Combat

(Tristain, Tristain Academy of Magic)

The trek back to the student dorms had been largely uneventful to an outside observer. Although the sight of a raven-haired man in his mid-twenties following Louise may have been concerning to some, his jovial demeanor would have immediately put them at ease.

Yet, while Li innocently chatted with his new master, Hei was doing something else entirely.

As he walked, Hei was analyzing every single aspect of the scenery around him, implanting it into his memory.

When Li looked at the walls, happily remarking on the cool artwork, Hei was scanning for possible exits, in the event of an unexpected confrontation.

When Li glanced upwards at the ceiling after being asked about his world's sky, Hei was mentally gauging how much weight each rafter would support, should the need for him to grapple arise.

Even when Li casually remarked on the interactions of a certain blond-haired earth mage with a fellow student so late at night, Hei was identifying where their wands were sheathed, and generating disarming tactics accordingly.

And now, they had finally arrived.

Standing in the doorway to a Louise's dorm room, a certain Black Reaper was barely able to contain his laughter.

"Louise...when I asked you about a straw bed...you do realize I was joking?"

"S-Shut up! It's not like that!"

"Okay, okay…" replied Li happily, a carefree smile plastered across his face.

"A-Anyway, I'm going to bed now." replied Louise, before slowly taking off her blouse, turning towards the nightstand.

"Louise?!" exclaimed Li, shocked at the complete immodesty of a woma-no, _girl_ , almost a decade younger than him deciding to undress in his face.

"Hm?"

"Just what are you doing...exactly?"

"I'm getting ready for bed! Do commoners sleep clothed in your world, Li?"

"N-Not that part!" stammered the flushed "Li Shengshun", frantically trying to convey the complete immorality of the current situation.

"You mean undressing in front of you?" Louise innocently responded, while proceeding to take off her skirt.

Unable to bear the situation any longer, Li quickly turned around, and started walking slowly towards the door.

"Louise, do you have no modesty?!"

"Be quiet! You're a familiar, so it doesn't matter what you see! It's no different than if you were a pet!" Finally alone with her familiar, Louise subconsciously slipped back from the mindset of fear and reverence she had been in for the past 6 hours, into the proud, arrogant, Louise Francois LeBlanc de la Vallière.

"Pet…?" questioned Li, eyes hardening.

"Yes, a pet! But you're not even useful as one! Kirche's familiar can breathe fire, Tabitha's can fly, but you're just a commoner!" exclaimed the pinkette.

Useless…?

"Here." commanded Louise, tossing her blouse, stockings, and skirt at Li's back, and donning a nightgown. "Go get these washed these by tomorrow. It's the only thing you're good for."

Faced with these insults, combined with the pressure of the past six hours, Hei's kind persona slowly began to crack. Wanting to defuse the situation, he finally responded.

"I'm going outside Louise. I'll find you in the morning." spoke Hei, as he walked into the doorway

Before, his tone had been pleasant and amicable; now, a faint cold edge had seeped into his voice.

However, in all her fury and anger at the "unfairness" of her familiar summoning, Louise either didn't notice the shift of tone, or simply didn't care.

"No! You _will_ take these clothes to be washed before you leave! As your master, I command you to stop, right now! Obey me!" shouted the mage, drawing her wand out of habit.

 _Weapon!_ The sharp, clear thought flashed through Li's consciousness, and his instincts took over. Stopping, he briefly analyzed the situation.

" _Thank you_ , familiar. Now take my clothes, and…" started the petite mage, before being cut off as Hei finally turned around.

For standing before her was no longer the kind, somewhat-clumsy college student Li, but Hei, the Black Reaper.

Gone was the smiling face, replaced by narrowed, soulless eyes, a shade darker than black, with cold, expressionless lips. In that moment, Louise finally realized the true identity of the mysterious man under that blood-stained mask.

Images of her encounter with the white-haired gunman flashed through her mind, and she instinctively began chanting an incantation to defend herself.

But the Black Reaper was already behind her, blade pressed against her vulnerable throat.

Louise froze, scared stiff from the cold steel at her neck.

"Put the weapon down." growled Hei.

Unable to resist, Louise automatically lowered her wand to the ground, then slowly stood back up

"W-What a-are you d-doing?" whispered Louise, terrified at the prospect of a swift, gruesome death before her.

"Do you know what happens to people who draw weapons against me…?"

Unable to respond, Louise stood still, afraid to move the slightest inch within the deadly embrace.

"They die." spoke the Black Reaper coldly, the blade flashing with electric current.

Assured Louise would no longer threaten him with this world's "magic", Hei swiftly withdrew the knife, and allowed the pink-haired mage to sink to her knees.

"I'm leaving, Louise. Goodbye."

With the target neutralized, Hei slowly left the room, the red light fading from his eyes.

X

Louise knelt, long, pink hair covering her eyes.

No...It couldn't be.

I thought I summoned the most useless familiar of them all.

I tried to command him, to listen to me, to wash my clothes, to _obey_.

He took it all in stride, his carefree, amiable disposition never wavering.

Even when I commanded him like a dog, he was still kind to me.

I thought his kindness was weakness,,.

Such a terrifying person, one able to manipulate lightning at will and move as fast as a god, took the time to try and be my first true friend.

And I threw it all away.

It's all my fault…

My...fault…

X

Outside the door sat the Black Reaper, lost in thought.

He had truly wanted to befriend the girl. Regardless of Schneizel's cold outlook, he thought that she might be redeemable, or at least manipulated in a kinder way. But, he still failed.

In the end, he was a weapon. Forged from a young age to fight against others, he served his purpose to the best of his ability, time and time again. Since Heaven's Gate, he had lost count of all the people he'd killed with that blood-soaked dagger.

And now, in this brave new world, he'd been forced to use it again.

Even though he had lived so long as a human, his instincts came over him, determined to protect him from any danger.

He'd made the correct choice...right?

Lost in his thoughts, Hei was suddenly snapped back to reality by the sound of...crying?

Louise was crying? Why?

Suddenly, Schneizel's words came back to him.

"...even though she may try to act controlling, she's at heart just a young, scared teenager in desperate need of companionship."

Damn it! Of course!

There was no longer any doubt in Hei's mind. He had to give the girl another chance, if only to fix what he'd done.

"...Louise? Can I come in?"

Hei got no response, except for the small, meek sobs.

Softly, Hei opened the door, only to see Louise on the floor, head buried in her knees, with tears streaming down her face.

"Louise…" whispered Hei.

Slowly, Hei knelt down, and held the childlike mage in his arms.

"...Li?" whispered Louise, vaguely aware of someone holding her tightly.

"I'm here...Louise."

"I...I thought you...left me…" choked out Louise between sobs.

"I'm sorry, Louise. I'll never leave your side again, I swear it."

Louise slowly looked up, her proud face replaced by quivering lips, and red, puffy eyes.

"Do you...do you really mean that?"

"I promise."

"Li…" breathed Louise, before burying her head in Hei's chest

"Thank you...Li..."

Hei only returned a sad smile.

XX

Soon enough, Louise's sobs faded, and only her soft, quiet breathing remained.

Gently lifting the small girl into her bed, Hei softly smiled, briefly reminded of his own younger sister, before pulling up her covers, and quietly laying down on the straw bedding.

Reminiscing on the events of the day, he almost couldn't believe his situation. Sucked straight out of a confrontation with a calamitous god, he was teleported into a medieval academy of _magic_ , before being branded as a slave by a pink-haired _tsundere_.

But somehow, somewhere in his heart, he knew it was going to be alright.

XXX

(The Next Day)

Early in the morning, sunlight streamed through the window. Rubbing her eyes, Louise slowly pushed off the covers.

Normally, she would've slept in much later, so why was the window open so early…?

Finally opening her eyes, she noticed a tall, raven-haired man, clad in a green jacket and jeans looking out the window. Noticing Louise awaken, he turned around, smiling, and waved.

"Good morning, Louise-san~"

"W-Who are you!" exclaimed Louise, now wide-awake in her bed.

"Louise-san…?" asked Li, tilting his head in confusion.

"Oh...it's you." replied Louise, the memories flooding back to her.

"A-About last night, I'm sor…" started Louise, before being cut off as Li's stomach let out a massive growl.

"Ara...I'm hungry. Can we get some food?"

"S-sure..."

XXX

(Tristain, Tristain Academy of Magic, Outside the Nobles' Dining Hall)

"Li...you aren't a noble, are you?"

"Yeah, that's right."

Louise's face instantly fell, as she realized the implications of trying to bring a commoner in with her.

"T-Then...c-could you please go to the o-other dining hall?" responded Louise shakily, afraid of offending her familiar once again.

"Yeah, that's fine, Louise. I understand." Flashing a quick smile to dissuade his new companion's apprehension, Hei walked off, in search of food to sate his incredible appetite.

At a loss for words, Louise slowly walked forward, a strange feeling in her heart.

Was it fear? Li was certainly a frightening person. But the more she thought about it, the sensation of the blade against her throat was nothing like she was feeling now.

When she had broken down last night, it was Li who came in and held her as she cried. Head buried in his chest, she didn't feel at all uncomfortable; almost like a missing part of her had been filled. Now that he'd left, she felt...lonely.

Lonely. That was it.

She turned around to try and find Li, willing even to eat in the commoners' mess hall just to be with him.

But he was already gone.

Steeling her resolve, she turned away from the dining hall, and set out to look for her one real friend.

XXX

Li was casually walking down a hallway, unsure of where exactly to go get food, before suddenly stopping as a voice rang out.

"Impudent commoner!"

In a hallway coming off the dining hall, a certain black-haired maid was being scolded by a soaked and _very_ angry Guiche de Gramont, flanked by Malicorne, and another second-year.

"I-I'm sorry sir! I truly didn't mean to, I swear by the Founder!" squeaked Siesta, in abject terror, clutching a mostly-empty jug of water.

"Do you, a mere commoner, think you have the _right_ to invoke the Founder's name!" roared Guiche, leveling his wand at the cowering maid, who was desperately trying to shield herself with her arms.

Dashing forward with incredible speed, Li leapt forward, shoving Siesta out of the way in the nick of time. For where Siesta had been cowering moments before lay a chunk of bronze, thrown at the floor with killing intent.

"Are you alright?" questioned Li frantically, with a clear expression of worry.

"Y-yes…" responded Siesta, still dazed from the sudden impact.

"Why are you interfering, commoner!" exclaimed Guiche, face red after being humiliated not once, but twice in front of his posse!

"Because killing people is bad, Mister Noble!" slowly explained Li, almost as if he were talking to a child.

The two other second-years guffawed even louder with this obvious insult, and Guiche's face somehow reddened further.

Guiche was in shock. After being pampered as the son of a great general for all of his life, he was being humiliated to such a great degree, his pride and honor torn down in an instant!

No, he decided. He would not let this stand! There was only one way for him to regain his lost face now.

"Y-You bastard peasant! I will not allow this affront to my honor stand any further! I, Guiche de Gramont, challenge you to a duel! Vestiri Court, fifteen minutes from now. Come if you dare!" roared Guiche, before turning on his heel and strutting away, leaving his two friends in a daze.

"...Did I do something wrong?"

Suddenly, Li felt Siesta grab on to him, and look him in the eye with a frantic gaze.

"Please! Apologize to him, now!"

"He just tried to kill you, and you want me to apologize?!"

"It doesn't matter! If you truly anger a noble, then...then…"

Too frightened to even voice the thought, Siesta ran away down the hall, too ashamed of herself for getting another commoner dragged into her mess.

"Okay…?" voiced Li to nobody in particular, wearing a confused expression.

However, internally, Hei was seething with anger. What kind of world allowed students to execute servants like this! If he hadn't been there, that poor serving girl would've died for sure!

"No, I won't let this stand." growled Hei, inside his head. "That stuck-up brat wants a duel? _I'll_ _slaughter him_."

"So what will it be, commoner?" asked the pudgy, blond haired student. "Will you accept Lord Gramont's honorable challenge?"

Inwardly, Hei let out a cruel, dark grin.

"Uh...okay! Can you point me in the right direction?" responded Li, in a friendly tone.

Malicorne was shocked. He was certain that the commoner would beg for mercy before him. But to go out and duel a noble forthright? Did this jovial, unassuming man have a death wish?!

Hesitantly, Malicorne pointed towards the courtyard.

"Thank you!~"

And with that, the Black Reaper merrily skipped off towards the duel.

XXX

At the Vestiri Courtyard, a large crowd was slowly beginning to form. Through word of mouth, they learned of a duel to be taking place soon, between a noble and commoner! Even though the victor was certain from the outset, it was sure to provide good entertainment.

"Hey, did you hear? Guiche challenged a commoner to a duel! Can you believe it!"

"Hah, do you think the commoner will actually come and fight?"

"Of course not! He'd be courting death!"

Such were the conversations that greeted Hei as he calmly walked into the courtyard, conductive knife sheathed on his left leg. Having grabbed his tactical belt and wire from Louise's room beforehand, he was thoroughly convinced he could annihilate anything the stuck-up noble threw at him.

"Uh...Is there a Gu-iche Gram-ont here?" asked Li, horifficaly mangling the name's pronunciation.

"You!" shouted Guiche in surprise, in shock that the commoner actually met his challenge!

"It's the commoner!"

"He's finally arrived!"

"You...you actually came! I'm impressed that you possessed the honor to uphold such a request!"

"Of course! What kind of person would I be, to disregard such an _invitation._ " responded Li, a cruel, malicious expression briefly flashing across his face as he spat the last word.

Guiche suddenly felt a pang of paralyzing fear echo throughout his body.

"S-So be it!" exclaimed Guiche, trying to regain his composure in front of the grand assembly of students. "I, Guiche de Gramont, shall be your opponent!"

Deftly, Guiche reached into his cloak, pulling out an exquisite rose from his arsenal, before brandishing it at Li.

"...A rose? I'm sorry Guiche, but I don't swing that way."

Instantly, the tension in the courtyard all but dissipated, and the previously expectant students were now roaring with intense laughter!

"E-ENOUGH!" thundered Guiche, his face scarlet. He was through with being lenient on this commoner! He would show him...He would show this upstart the true power of a noble!

"Commoner, I will give you this knowledge! My runic name is Guiche the Bronze, so therefore, my Valkyrie shall be your opponent!" With that, Guiche dropped the rose to the ground, summoning a massive, vaguely feminine bronze golem.

Hei stood stunned, the previous smiling face being replaced instantly by a blank, unreadable expression.

"That's right! Kneel before me, and the might of my bronze golems, if you want to survive, commoner!"

But the Reaper was not at a loss from fear, but rather complete incredulity.

The noble seriously sent a golem, made out of one of the _most conductive metals_ , to fight against a battle-hardened electromancer.

This was too good.

Struggling to keep a straight face, Li finally responded.

"Okay, okay...so, what are the rules?"

"Normally, a duel would be until the death. But since you are but a mere commoner, I'll make an exception for you!" replied Guiche, his bravado finally seeing his opponent's "terror". "This duel will be fought until one side either yields, or can fight no longer! Are these terms agreeable to you, commoner?"

"Yeah yeah, okay…"

"So be it! Let this duel begin!" roared the blond earth mage, sending his Valkyrie to attack.

XXX

(Earlier that day)

Louise was quickly walking down a hallway, determined to locate her familiar. Even though she had unwittingly pushed him away earlier that morning, she wanted nothing more than to find him again.

However, the last thing she expected was to find a bawling, black-haired maid, running down the corridor.

"Ms. Vallière, Ms. Vallière! It's horrible!" exclaimed Siesta.

"W-What's going on? What do you mean?" responded Louise. Concerned by the normally jovial maid's actions, she listened intently.

Relieved to have found a noble, Siesta retold the escapades of the nameless man, who defended her from a deadly attack, went out of his way to get Guiche to back off, but now was forced into a duel!

"That's horrible, Siesta! We need to get the headmaster right now!" shouted Louise, running in the direction of Osmond's office, before suddenly stopping.

"Ms. Vallière…?"

"Siesta…" responded Louise in a slow voice.

"Yes?"

"Was the commoner, by any chance, a fairly tall 25-year-old man, with black hair and a green jacket?"

"Yes, Ms. Vallière described him perfectly! Do you know him personally?"

"Where is he now!" shouted Louise frantically, a knot of fear quickly developing in her stomach.

"V-Vestiri Courtyard!" replied Siesta, shocked at the sudden emotion from the pink-haired girl.

"Come on! If we don't hurry, we won't be able to save him!"

"S-Save him? How do you intend to stop Guiche Gra…"

"Not him, you idiot! Guiche doesn't stand a chance against that man! If we don't stop the duel, Li will end up killing him!"

And with that, the two girls took off for the courtyard.

XXX

Dancing around the golem's slow, telegraphed strikes, Li had evaded every single attack thus far with relative ease. He could've easily finished the duel by now, but he wanted the "noble" to _suffer._ So for now, at least, he had to play along.

"You're pretty good at running, commoner! But how do you expect to defeat me like that?" jeered Guiche. But in reality, the earth-mage was fuming, as each one of his strikes missed the target by large margins. As a noble, being brought to a standstill by a commoner who hasn't even attacked was a disgrace! He had to find an opening, somewhere!

Out of breath, Louise and Siesta finally stumbled into the courtyard. Relieved at first to see Guiche still alive, Louise then was reminded of the grave situation before her. She had to stop her familiar from massacring a fellow student!

"Li!" called out the pink-haired mage.

"Louise?" responded Li, turning around in shock. At that critical moment, he had left his back turned to the Valkyrie.

"Yes!" thought Guiche, his mind spinning into overdrive. "This is the opening I need! Valkyrie, attack!"

With that command, the Valkyrie suddenly lunged forward, lance aimed straight for Li's skull.

Time seemed to slow down, as everyone simultaneously realized the implications of the events that just unfolded.

Louise was shocked at the pure viciousness of Guiche's attack, but even more so at the situation she had put her familiar into. By distracting him in such a critical moment, she had basically sealed his fate!

Siesta had covered her eyes, unwilling to see the grim, inevitable conclusion of the fight between commoner and noble. She couldn't believe that such a kind man was going to die because of her mistakes!

Guiche's eyes widened in horror. Even though he was a noble, he'd never actually killed anyone before! Now, a commoner, most likely hired by the school's faculty, was about to be impaled by his hands!

One sharp, crystal-clear thought resounded through all three of their heads.

"What have I done?!"

Yet, the Black Reaper only gave a cold smile.

Moving with terrifying speed, Hei dropped to one knee, pushing off with his back foot into a roll, and reached across his body to unsheath his knife. Then, he shifted his body weight with a practiced precision, coming out of the roll directly facing the golem. Finally, he brought his knife to bear, expertly catching the lance between the blades of his weapon.

Various expressions of disbelief shone around the courtyard, as all of the students were gobsmacked at the incredible display of close-quarters-combat.

Guiche breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that he hadn't accidentally killed the commoner. Yet, his sigh was interrupted by a sharp intake of breath, as he realized that the commoner had humiliated him again!

"...Did you need something, Louise?" asked Li, his kind, cheery voice amplified by the stunned silence that had fallen over the courtyard.

"U-Um…" spoke the pinkette, at a complete loss for words.

"If it isn't urgent, can you tell me later? I'm in a bit of a...situation...right now." responded the Reaper, still holding back the might of the bronze golem's attack.

"S-Sure…"

Noticing that Li seemingly didn't intend to decapitate the bronze mage at knifepoint, Louise allowed herself to relax, albeit momentarily.

"Anyway...I didn't expect the honorable Guiche Gramont to perform such a deadly, vicious strike from behind!" exclaimed "Li", feigning excessive shock and disappointment.

Yes, this was it. One more step, and he'd crush this noble so thoroughly, he'd be hard-pressed to show his face anywhere in the academy!

"W-What are you saying!" exclaimed Guiche, red in the face. Attempting to nurse his wounded pride, he responded, "I didn't expect you'd be so weak as to almost die to such a low-powered attack!"

With that statement, Hei's eyes sharply narrowed, a cold smirk breaking out on his lips.

"..Weak?"

Suddenly, Guiche felt a chill run down his spine. With one word, the innocent, smiling face of the man before him transformed into the cold expression of a hardened killer.

"Then allow me to show you, Gramont…" started the Black Reaper.

" _Just how weak you are!_ "

Instantly, Hei pulled the knife away from the bronze golem, and activated his contract. Red light shining in his black pupils, he allowed the molecules in his blade to rapidly oscillate back and forth, before cutting across the body of the Valkyrie. Vibrating at such an incredible speed, the hardened blade effortlessly cleaved the golem in two, shattering its magical connection to its master.

Lifeless, the metallic remains clattered to the ground.

"I-Impossible!" cried Guiche, in shock at the ease of which the _commoner_ destr...no, _annihilated_ his golem! His mind filled with rage and humiliation, Guiche furiously threw off his cape, allowing all seventeen rose petals within to fall to the ground. Each one had been painstakingly handcrafted by him over his last year-and-a-half at the academy, but it mattered not. As long as he ground this commoner to dust, it would all be worthwhile!

One by one, all seventeen golems rose from the earth, as the petals containing them dissipated into nothingness. Moving into a semicircle around the Black Reaper, they raised their lances in attack formation.

"Valkyries! Kill him!" thundered the furious Gramont, his once-arrogant visage contorted with pure rage.

Hei simply returned a cold smile, and rushed forwards to meet the oncoming golems.

As the center-most golem threw its lance forwards to attack, Hei did the unthinkable.

Leaping into the air, the Black Reaper vaulted off the flying weapon, before activating his contract yet again. As he rapidly approached the Valkyrie, Hei allowed the deadly flow of unrestrained electricity to flow through his unburdened left hand, before planting it squarely on the bronze golem's chest.

Moving at ninety-eight percent of the speed of sound, the electricity coursed through the golem, completely destroying the magical connection housed inside. With voltage rivaling natural lightning, the current easily to arc outward, spreading almost instantaneously throughout the entirety of the legion of Valkyries, completely destroying all seventeen magical connections.

Simultaneously, all the bronze golems fell to the ground, dead.

"WHAA!" exclaimed the majority of the students, in awe of the terrifying display of power from the commoner before them. Originally, they'd written the duel off as a one-sided stomp. But now..!

Slowly, Hei advanced towards Guiche, who had collapsed to his knees in fear. The Black Reaper walked forward, casually flipping his blade, as the bronze mage attempted to scoot backwards, but found himself frozen in terror!

"Who..who are you!"

Wordlessly, Hei pulled the mask out from his back pocket, slowly affixing it to his face.

Finally, the students encountered a flash of realization. This was one of the men Louise summoned as a familiar! A terrifying man as powerful as that white-haired gunman!

"Y-You!" exclaimed Guiche, having finally realized the true identity of the "commoner" he'd so recklessly challenged!

Finally reaching the boy, Hei drew back his knife, preparing to sink it into the skull of the insolent "noble".

Yet before he could deal the killing blow, he was stopped by a small pair of hands, reaching across him.

"No! Don't kill him, Li!"

Looking down at the pink-haired girl, Hei's mind was suddenly drawn back to an event not days prior.

X

Crouching high above, Hei was following Misaki Kirihara, trying to locate the remains of his team. Then, finally, he saw them! Suou and July, being coerced by that traitor!

"Let's get out of here." started Kirihara.

"But where?" questioned Suou hesitantly, unsure of the woman before her.

"Just leave it to me. I promise I'll take you guys to safety. So come…"

Having heard enough, Hei leaped down from the building, drawing his knife against Misaki Kirihara's throat.

"Stop it! Let go of her!" cried Suou, afraid that Hei would kill again.

He could've disregarded her, and slit the detective's throat in a flash. But, some part of him rebelled. Whether it was for Kirihara's sake, or just to keep Suou from witnessing a murder, he reluctantly incapacitated her, then ran off with his team.

X

And now, he was confronted by the same situation again. There was no doubt in his mind what he should do.

Sheathing the blade, Hei turned around, and slowly began to walk away from the noble child he'd utterly thrashed.

"Hah…" spat Guiche. "After all this, you're still nothing but a slave."

Suddenly, Hei stopped, and Guiche realized that he'd made a _very_ big mistake.

Without turning around, Hei threw his wire towards Guiche's neck, expertly lassoing his throat.

"What are you doi..."

Without hesitation, Hei activated his contract a third and final time, sending a surge of electricity down the wire. Briefly convulsing, Guiche finally toppled over, completely unconscious.

"Li!"

"He'll live. Let's go, Louise."

With that statement, the duo left the courtyard, leaving behind only a group of stunned students.

XXX

(a/n) Yayy, I got the fight done! Poor Guiche D:

Anywho, I'm starting back school again, so updates will be...less frequent. I don't really know when I'll get time to write this, but I'll do my best to get these chaps out to you guys!

Side note: I tried centering the transitions this chapter. When I preview it like this, it seems easier to read for me. Let me know if you guys like it this way, or if I'm stupid and should change them back!

As always, thank you for reading!

-Kavaznya


	6. Chapter 6 - Mott the Wave

(a/n) 1000 views! Thank you guys all so much!

Thank you to The Guide of Unity for the fave, Metronome I Hear and sartiel for the follow, and especially, firecard, Under of Flower, and MadJeager 00 for the fave/follow!

Reviews!

MadJeager 00 - Thank you for the review! I'm glad you're enjoying my story so far!

gold crown dragon - Thank you for the review!

DISCLAIMER: The following work is a fan-based piece of literature. The characters, events, and locations of Zankyou no Terror, Code: Geass - Lelouch of the Rebellion, Trigun, Darker than Black, and Familiar of Zero are all property of their respective owners.

"Words" - speaking

Words - Narration / Thought

(Words) - Location

X - Change of perspective

XX - Timeskip in scene

XXX - Change of scene

Chapter 6 - Mott the Wave

(Tristain, Tristain Academy of Magic, Schneizel's Temporary Office)

"He did WHAT?!"

"Eep!" cried out the maid, taken aback by the ferocious outburst.

When she was assigned to serve one of Ms. Vallière's terrifying summons, she had been understandably hesitant. Yet, Schneizel was very kind and understanding to her over the past few days, treating her wholly unlike those brash and rude students, although she'd never dare utter that part out loud. Truly, she was stunned by the sudden roar of the ever-placid man.

"I-It's the truth, Sir Schneizel! You can v-verify it if you don't believe me!"

"...My apologies, Elena." responded the prime minister, quickly masking his barely-concealed fury with his calm, softly smiling facade. "I was simply surprised by the nature of the information, that's all."

"O-Oh…"

"I think I'll retire for the night, Elena. You needn't worry about me until tomorrow."

"O-Okay, Sir Schneizel…" responded the shaken maid, before rapidly exiting the room.

"That idiot…" growled Schneizel, before slamming his fist down on the table, his makeshift calm demeanor falling away in an instant. "What the hell does he think he's doing?"

Closing his eyes, Schneizel sank back into his chair.

At once, countless scenarios began to flash through his incredible mind, and Schneizel slowly began to re-adjust his plan.

XXX

(Tristain, Tristain Academy Vault)

"And here's the academy vault, Mr. Kokonoe. You may access it any time you wish, just ask one of the maids to let you in."

"Academy Vault…? Should you really be letting me access all of this stuff, Colbert-san?"

"Why of course! The function of ninety percent of the contents are a mystery to us, and if anyone could make sense of them, it'd be you! You seem like a man of science like me, Mr. Kokonoe, and I have no doubt you'll be able to use these treasures to their greatest effect!" responded the professor, visibly excited.

Man of science…? Sure, if you call constructing various explosive devices for domestic terrorism a scientific discipline! But who am I to look a gift horse in the mouth?

"...Thank you, Mr. Colbert. I'll be sure to do my best." responded Nine carefully.

"Splendid! Well, I'll be off then, I do have quite a few classes to teach!" replied the jovial professor, before jaunting away, a skip in his step.

Well, that was...interesting.

"Let's see what we have to work with…" spoke Nine to nobody in particular, before opening the massive vault doors, and peering inside.

"Holy f*ck…"

"Is that a rocket launcher?!"

XXX

(Tristain, Tristain Academy of Magic, Noble's Dining Hall)

Inside the noble's dining hall, an oppressive, permeating atmosphere of silence covered every corner of the room. Each and every student, first year to third year, were cowering quietly, whispering in fear to one-another as they panickedly ate breakfast.

The source of this disturbance was none other than a certain Li Shengshun, who was in the process of devouring his fifth course of the meal.

"Hm...is the dining hall always this quiet, Louise?" Li innocently asked between bites, seemingly ignorant of the shocking display of power he had generated not a day prior.

"N-No...it's not…"

"I see, I see…" mused Li, hand clichedly stroking his chin. "Anyway, the food's great here!"

"Yeah…"

Just then a group of second years came into the dining hall, chatting amongst themselves. Looking up towards the tables, they instantly froze at the sight of Li, who cheerfully waved back.

Running as fast as their unexercised bodies could allow, the students hastily vacated the hall in record time.

"...Did I do that?"

"Li...you're kind of scaring them."

"Ara?" responded Li, before animatedly looking around the room, as any student within his gaze instantly covered their heads.

"Hm...I guess you're right, Louise-san."

"C-Could you...g-go with the other f-familiars, f-for right now?"

"Ah...but the food is so good here!"

"Li…"

"Ah, fine, fine...I'll see you around, Louise!" replied the Black Reaper, before merrilly leaving the hall.

At that moment, all of the remaining students released a collective sigh of relief.

XXX

(Tristain, Tristain Academy of Magic, Commoner's Dining Hall)

As soon as Hei entered into the commoner's dining hall, the entire atmosphere of the room froze, and every individual stopped whatever they were doing, be it cleaning, cooking, or serving, to stare at him.

Jesus. Don't tell me I have to deal with this situation again…

Yet Hei's internal musings were cut off by...raucous applause?

"It's him!"

"Li Shengshun!"

"The noble that stood up for us!"

All around the room, the various servants and chefs were excitedly cheering for Hei, clapping and shouting all the while.

...What is this?

"Um...can I ask what's going on here…?" responded Li nervously, appearing taken aback by the sudden change in atmosphere.

"Of course, my friend!" boomed a brown haired, middle-aged man, evidently the leader among them. "We're cheering for ya!"

Well gee, isn't that descriptive.

"Um...why…?"

"Why? Well, you went and gave that noble brat what was coming to him! Even though you may be a noble yourself, anyone who sticks up for one of us commoners is a friend of mine, Li!"

How...remarkably progressive.

"O-Oh...thank you?"

"Thank me? No, my friend, we thank _you_! Chefs!"

"Yes, Marteau?" choursued the chefs in unison.

"Get this man a feast!"

XXX

Finally leaving the dining hall, belly full, Hei found time to reflect on the situation he was in.

He had certainly alienated most of the nobles at the school with his duel against Gramont, but that was to be expected. At least they attributed the destruction of the golems to the surge of electricity. Even though lightning magic was seen as incredibly powerful and requiring of a late-stage mage to cast, it was still better than them realizing the truth.

Molecular manipulation. Gifted to him by his sister, it allowed him to change the atomic structure of anything his palms came in contact with, and in a gigantic radius with the meteorite core. His sister, and then him, had been hunted since the first stars fell, not seen as people, but as BK201, a manifestation of arguably the most powerful stars in existence. That identification had led him to be almost kidnapped, experimented on, and assassinated by every named, and even some unnamed, agency across the entire world, and not even necessarily in that order. If they had indeed realized that he converted every mana particle to inorganic gravel in a mere fraction of a second, well…

The consequences would've been unimaginable.

On the other hand, the commoners had proven to be an unexpected ally, even so far as to call him some cliche nickname he couldn't remember. Whatever it was, it was certainly less fitting than the "Black Reaper". However, even though their usefulness had yet to be determined, the quality of their food was certainly nothing to ignore…

Yet, Hei's thoughts were interrupted by the timely appearance of a certain flame salamander, who had moved behind him and lunged forward, intending to grasp his baggy, green jacket in his mouth.

Reacting instantly, Hei shrugged out of the jacket, before hastily diving forward. Coming out of the roll, he reached across his body to his knife before turning towards his adversary, a cold, red light shining in his eyes.

Flame warbled a cry of shock, not expecting the human he'd been sent to retrieve to act so...viciously

Suddenly recognizing the dragon, Hei's mind snapped back to a conversation he'd had, lying in the familiar shed right after his duel.

X

"Louise...is that a dragon?"

"N-no, that's Kirche's flame salamander."

"Kirche…?"

"Red hair? Brown skin? Big bre…"

"I think I know who you're talking about." responded Li, cutting off Louise as quickly as possible. Even though she may be 17, Hei had a hard time seeing her as any older than a mere young child.

"So yes, that's her familiar."

"Is it gonna bite my head off?"

"N-No you idiot! A familiar is forced to obey its master, always! That's why they have familiar runes branded on to them!"

Forced…? Then that would mean…

"Is that so…" muttered Hei, a strange look shining through his black eyes.

X

His status as a branded slave, vulnerable to compulsion from a temperamental teenaged girl aside, that still would mean he was either being outright attacked in a clear and blatantly ridiculous manner, especially considering his revealed power, or the lizard came for something else entirely.

So naturally, the best thing to do would be asking it directly.

"...Are you here to harm me?" inquired Hei, cold expression plastered across his body, ready to annihilate the lizard in a flash of electricity.

Yet, the lizard began to frantically shake its head, almost like it was...afraid?

This is unexpected.

"Oh...okay then!" exclaimed Li, his happy, cheerful attitude returning in a flash. "Lead the way!"

Still visibly shaken, the lizard hurried off, Black Reaper in tow.

XXX

As Hei entered the room, he was stunned at the sight of a barely-dressed Kirche von Zerbst. At a loss for words, he simply stood there, in abject silence.

"Welcome...Li…"

What is this!

"K-Kirche?"

"Yes...Welcome to my...private room, Li."

She cannot be seriously considering what I think she is.

"I know I'm doing something I shouldn't...but...you see, my runic name is Kirche the Ardent. See, when I saw you, so handsomely defeating Gramont, well...you made my fire burn, Li."

Jesus Christ, she is.

I have to end this charade, immediately.

"Kirche…" breathed Li, turning around, away from the Red-haired flame mage.

"Yes, Li?"

"About...about that talk of your flame…"

"...Yes?"

Suddenly, the persona of Li Shengshun faded, replaced by the cold, unmoving stoicism of the Black Reaper.

"Save it for someone who cares."

Slowly walking towards the door, Hei dissuaded a frantically approaching Flame with a wave of static over his hands, and left the room.

"He...He rejected me?"

"Kirche!" cried Stix, a young, hopelessly smitten boy, hanging outside the third story window.

"Go away!" screamed Kirche, tears streaming down her face, before launching an indiscriminate fireball at the window, violently knocking him down to the floor.

XXX

Well, it was admittedly harsh.

Scratch that, it was incredibly harsh to do that, especially a teenage girl.

But, it's not like he had a choice, really. He needed to give her the reality of the situation, that trying to seduce a hardened killer wouldn't be in her best interests. With such a clear and unambiguous message, she would surely stop trying to chase after him.

...Right?

"Familiar."

 _That voice!_

Years in the syndicate had trained Hei's memory to almost superhuman levels, and he prided himself on his espionage skills. So connecting that soft voice to a certain blue-haired wind mage was no challenge at all.

A certain wind mage, who, despite all existing physical laws, took action rapidly enough to deflect a bullet moving at over five hundred miles per hour, as a second-year academy student.

Faced with someone like that, he would have to tread carefully.

"Hello? Who's there?" asked 'Li', carefully putting on his fake persona.

"You know." spoke Tabitha woodenly, rapidly descending on Sylphid, in a clear and unambiguous attempt to block his path.

Well, this is bad. I don't want to get into a confrontation with her, if only because I can't accurately determine her power.

"I'm sorry, I don't know your name, Ms. student. Can you tell me?"

"Liar."

"...I'm sorry, I don't really understa…"

"Not lying about name. _You lie with your face, monster_." growled Tabitha, her anger cracking her quiet, bookish exterior.

"!"

This isn't good.

"Is that so, Tabitha?" responded Hei, his kind demeanor falling away in an instant, replaced with his trademark, cold voice.

Tabitha visibly flinched, finally witnessing Hei's true nature firsthand.

"Why are you here..." spoke Tabitha, regaining her composure.

"...You think I came here willingly, to be branded as a slave in some backwards, undeveloped society? Who exactly do you take me for, _Tabitha_?"

"What are you sayi…"

"Of course, that's not your true name, isn't it?" spat Hei, cutting her off, as he slowly approached the massive dragon. "You condemn me for my false personality, while even your _name_ is a lie."

"S-Stay back!" cried Tabitha, quickly levelling her wand.

But Hei was faster.

In one fluid motion, he pulled the knife out of his holster and threw it with all his might, easily knocking the wand out of her hand before she could utter a single incantation.

Dashing forwards, Hei leaped off of the ground and grappling off of Sylphid's neck, before landing in front of Tabitha, grabbing her head with his black, gloved hand.

"Checkmate." growled Hei, darkness resonating within his black eyes.

"Big sister!" exclaimed Sylphid, trying to turn around to knock away the attacker.

"Move, and the girl dies!" snarled Hei in response, electricity flashing through his free hand.

Sylphid froze.

The two humans stood in silent deadlock, each's eyes locked with the others. Tabitha's teeth clenched, struggling to meet the gaze of the emotionless killer before her. This, she knew, was his true nature.

And it was something she couldn't even begin to face.

Turning away from Hei's piercing eyes, Tabitha finally broke the silence.

"...Did my father send you?"

"Father…? No. I was brought here against my will, _Tabitha_ , a fact I explained _before_ you decided to unceremoniously attack me."

"Then, why…why did you become a slave?"

"Let me make something _abundantly_ clear to you." spoke Hei, his grip tightening on Tabitha's skull as traces of venom appeared in his cold voice once again.

"I am nobody's slave, _girl_. I fight to get back to my home, nothing more. And…"

"And _what_ …" whispered Tabitha, feeling the brunt of the monstrous pressure on her head from Hei's unyielding grip,.

A dark smile appeared on Hei's face.

"And I'll destroy anything in my way."

Eyes shining red, he sent a powerful electrical surge through her and Sylphid's body, causing them both to cry out in pain, before collapsing to the ground.

Having leapt off Sylphid moments before, Hei callously looked over his shoulder, and addressed the duo one final time.

"...You should be able to move in roughly thirty minutes, both of you. Take that time to reflect on your actions _."_

"...B-Bastard…." growled Tabitha, writhing immobile on the ground.

Effortlessly, Hei changed into his Li Shengshun persona once again. Smiling, he replied.

"Tabitha...That's not a very nice thing to say."

"Y-You...Bastard…"

"Now, Now…Shouldn't you be getting to bed soon, Tabitha? It's getting really quite late, you know. Anyway, I'll probably head to bed myself. Get some rest!~"

And with that, the Black Reaper merrily skipped off towards Louise's room.

"Dammit…" whispered Tabitha.

Again, she was powerless against a two-faced monster. Just like that time…

Softly, tears began to stream down her face, as she relived the memory of ten years ago.

XXX

Inside Louise's room, Hei stood, thoughtfully.

He'd had to resort to downright intimidation yet again. But, this time at least, it was necessary.

No matter what, he couldn't allow himself to bring a person like that into his mess. Even though he respected her intelligence and quick thinking, it was exactly that which made her a threat to him, and his goal. And he had to deal with it, even if it resorted to...that.

He didn't want to kill her, or her dragon, for that matter, yet she had to be dealt with, some way or another. She gave him the opportunity, calling him a monster, so, he just had to play the part of what she wanted to see.

No matter how cruel it may be.

Pushing the thought out of his mind, he slowly laid down on the rudimentary straw mattress, entering a dreamless sleep.

XXX

(The Next Day)

Having ate a massive meal once again, courtesy of the various chefs of the servant's dining hall, Hei was contentedly relaxing on a straw pile in the familiar stable, having nowhere else to go. Naturally, all the familiars were curiously examining the carefree human, with two notable exceptions.

As for Flame and Sylphid, they both were actively trying to put as much space between themselves and the terrifying assassin as possible.

Appearing to be blissfully unaware of the two terrified, massive creatures before him, Hei was laying down contentedly, when he felt something... _wrong_.

He knew this feeling; the massive manipulation of charged particles around him. It happened twice before, once with Hell's gate, and once with…

No. He couldn't even think about it. Repress the memory.

But if that feeling is accurate…!

Knife in hand, Hei bolted upright, and sprinted out of the stable with terrifying speed, to the shock of the lazing familiars around him.

X

Overlooking the Tristain Academy of Magic, a certain white-haired gunman stood, angel arm in hand.

There was a raging fire burning in his cold eyes. These peo...no, _spiders_ , whoever they were, ripped him from his allies, his playthings...even his very own world, for the purpose of making him a slave.

Knives had seen the black-coated gunman inside a stable, stored next to _creatures_ , like he was one. The other two men were strangely not present, but he couldn't afford to make assumptions.

Regardless, they would pay for their crimes, one, _pathetic life at a time_.

Slowly, he flipped open the side of his .45 Long Colt, feeling the power surge within him. The plant cell responded to his commands, rapidly morphing into a grotesque, life-like cannon, growing and twisting through the right side of his body. With cold determination, he began charging his ultimate weapon.

The particles flew around the base of the cannon, rapidly arranging into a spherical lattice.

6%, 7%, 8%.

Merely 15% of the output would be enough to destroy the moon; it would be more than enough. Any more would be wasting the energy of his brothers and sisters on these _scum_.

10% , 12%, 13%

He'd have his vengeance.

14%

He'd _burn them all_

15%

Weapon charged, he moved to fire the plasma cannon...when something out of the corner of his eye stopped him cold.

Knives saw a girl, looking of vague Japanese descent. At least, that's something he learned from his studies aboard the ship with…with…

Knives couldn't even bring himself to _think_ of that _traitor's_ name.

The girl, though, had an expression on her face. Normally he wouldn't care about the emotions of mere spiders, but that was an expression he _knew_.

He had seen those eyes once before. That was the expression of Tesla, a sister he hardly knew, but saw in those damnable log files being ripped apart to experiment on from day one. That was the expression of someone so resigned to a fate so horrible, that they didn't even have the energy to resist anymore.

It was for Tesla's sake that he massacred all of those despicable, vile _spiders_ aboard the ships. Even though this Japanese girl was just a spider, anything that would force someone to a state like that...anything as wicked as that…

Destroying of the academy could wait.

X

As soon as Hei reached the outside of the barn, the massive electrical disturbance had disappeared just as quickly as it had came.

Something was off here…

He just had to figure out what.

XXX

.

Still disturbed by the energy he felt earlier that day, Hei decided to head down to the dining hall. One thing common across both of his personalities was his insatiable appetite, and he could think better on a full stomach than an empty one.

Yet once he reached the doors, he felt the electrical nerve signals of all of the chefs, servants, and even some of the other commoner staff standing behind it at attention.

Whatever they planned on doing...he would approach with caution.

Right hand discreetly inside his green jacket, he tightly gripped his knife, and slowly opened the door.

"Um...what's going on here…?" questioned Li, careful to wear an expression of surprise.

"Our Blade!"

"You've finally arrived!"

"Thank the Founder!"

This...was not what he was expecting.

"Um...hello everyone?"

"Li, thank goodness you've arrived!" cried Marteau. "We've just been caught in the middle of a serious crisis, and we need your help!"

"...Could you describe the problem in more detail?"

"It's horrible! That vile, lecherous, disgusting Count Mott took Siesta away!"

Took away? That's human traff...wait, caste system. In any event…

Li's expression hardened, as he realized the implications of such an action.

"Where is he." growled Li, traces of his other identity slipping in to his voice.

"Here, Our Blade! I'll give you the map!" shouted one of the more excited servants, overjoyed that this noble would stand up to the oppressive system once more.

"Wait, what are you doing, sending him up against a triangle mage!"

"It's fine, Richard! Anyone who can cast lightning cloud so effortlessly must be at the very least a mid-stage square!"

"Thank you for telling me this, Marteau…" responded Hei slowly.

"I promise you, I'll get her back."

"Brimirspeed, Our Blade!"

With that, Hei took off down the corridor, determined to end the life of anyone that dared try to defile the happy, jovial made he'd saved not a day prior.

XXX

Louise was returning from a tiring day of classes, incredibly exhausted after she returned to the pattern of all her spells...violently exploding when cast.

In her heart, she secretly yearned that things would be different after getting a familiar, that she would finally be accepted as a normal mage into Tristanian society. But, it wasn't to be.

However, she did get one kickass familiar out of the deal, so she wasn't too unhappy out of the deal.

Yet, the last thing she expected to see when she walked into her room was that very same familiar, cleaning his various weapons, and dressing into heavy combat gear.

"L-Li?! What are you doing?"

"Oh...hello, Louise." spoke Hei flatly, before turning around, revealing the bloody mask affixed to his face once more.

"W-Why are you dressed like that? What are you trying to do here?!"

"Me…? I'm going to kill someone."

"K-KILL?! You can't! It's against the Founder's code!"

"...Have this world's norms stopped me before?"

"..."

Louise stared at the emotionless assassin before her, eyes wide with fear, before turning away, and hanging her head.

"..W-Who is it…?" softly mumbled Louise, breaking the silence.

"Count Mott."

Instantly, Louise's eyes snapped back upwards.

"Mott?! Are you insane, Li! You may have defeated Guiche, a dot mage, but Mott's a triangle, and an official royal messenger! Why on Halkegenia would you do such a thing?"

"...Siesta. He took her."

"Are you serious?!" asked Louise incredulously. "You really want to throw your life for a stupid commoner girl?"

Hei's eyes hardened behind the mask, and he turned away, towards the door.

"This discussion is over, Louise. I'll be back in a few hours."

"No! You idiot! You can't do this! You can't disobey me! You can't throw your life away, Li! Because...Because…"

Walking towards the door, thoughts wrapped up in his plan of attack, Hei almost didn't hear her final words.

Almost.

"...Because then I won't have you." whispered Louise, looking down at the ground.

Hei stopped dead in his tracks, shocked.

She...She really cares about me that much?

A single tear formed in his weathered left eye, slowly rolling down the inside of his mask.

"Y-You're the first real friend I ever had, Li...please, just stay here where it's safe...stay here...with...me…"

Gently taking off the mask, Hei turned back around to face Louise, a soft smile on his lips.

"Louise...I still have to go."

"Li, why do you insi…"

"For your sake as much as mine."

"...What?"

"You wanted to save her too, didn't you? But you weren't strong enough to, and now you're afraid I'll die too, because of your desire to save a friend."

"H-How...How did you…"

"Can you tell me about Mott, Louise?" asked Li, quietly cutting her off.

"W-Well...he's a triangle mage, proficient in both earth and wind, but his core element is water."

Water? _Water?!_ She really thinks I can't go up against a _water_ mage? With _electricity_?

"Louise…" started Hei slowly, gently putting his gloved hand on her head, and showing her his free one. His eyes glowed a soft red, as he allowed small sparks to dance across his fingertips. "Do you think a water mage stands a chance against me?"

"Hah...I guess not…"

"Li…"

"Yes, Louise?"

"...Do you promise you'll come back safe?"

Slowly, Li knelt down to the ground, and extended his right pinky finger.

Returning a soft smile, Louise reached out with her own.

Two lives intertwined in that moment. One, a hardened assassin, weathered by years of fighting and killing, and the other, a young girl, whose journey into the world had just begun. Yet, even faced with those two extremes, the two of them were able to share a brief, flitting connection in that brief moment, a smile on both of their faces.

With that, Hei re-affixed his mask, and turned towards the open window, preparing to leap out of it.

"Li."

"...Yes?"

"Give that bastard what he deserves."

Breaking into a grin under the mask, Hei gave a slight nod of acknowledgement, and leapt out to the ground below.

Having already memorized the map, Hei set off toward Count Mott's manor, ready to kill.

XXX

(Count Mott's Manor)

Hei finally arrived at the Manor, after really two hours of continuous sprinting. For all of the horrible things associated with the contract system, massively increased physical ability was one of the few positives.

Ready for war, he stepped out of the foliage surrounding the manor…

And instantly froze in shock.

He wanted to fight through the manor, killing the few guards that saw him, if any, before cleanly executing the Count, and escaping with Siesta. But this...this was beyond anything he had ever envisioned.

The house was a torn, broken mess of flaming rafters, bullet holes, and blood. Corpses were strewn left and right, each missing several body parts from the massive power of the impacts they received, frozen in an eternal expression of fear and terror.

And at the center of it all, a white-haired man stood, levelling his massive pistol at the Count with a cold, apathetic smirk.

"W-Wait! P-Please! Don't kill me! I'll give you anything! Money! Power! Slaves! My entire estate, just please! Spare my life, I beg of you!"

As the Count was desperately pleading for his life, Knives slowly loaded one bullet into the revolver, before unhurriedly spinning it, and seemingly stopping at random.

"C-Chance? C-Chance is fine. Yes, yes, 1 in 6. That's okay, that's quite okay, I thank you for your kindness, Sir Gunman!", replied Mott, frantically trying to flatter and suck up to his would-be killer, as if he could influence the hands of fate that way.

But Hei knew the truth. It would be no issue for a gunman of such a terrifying caliber as that man to simply manipulate the barrel spin however he wanted to. The roulette wasn't a chance at life: it was just a cruel exercise of hopelessness.

Quickly, Mott looked down the barrel of the gun, praying that he would be saved by the mercy of the Founder. Yet, his eyes widened as he realized that in the barrel, a lone chambered round was aimed directly at his eye.

His earlier smirk now a terrifying, cold-blooded grin, Knives deftly put a bullet through the the esteemed Palace Messenger's skull, violently exiting out the back of his head in a spray of blood.

Lifeless, Count Mott's broken body sunk to the floor, resting among the hundred other dead guards in his employ.

Slowly, Knives turned around to face the shocked Hei, frozen under his bloodstained mask.

"It's good to see you again. I apologize for not introducing myself earlier. My name is Knives."

"..."

"This is normally the part of the conversation where you say your name in response, no? Ah, no matter. I don't know who you are, but your ability of molecular manipulation makes you similar enough to me that I'll consider you an equal."

"!"

How could he know about that! I've only used electricity before anyone here. Unless…

"How did I know?" asked Knives, seemingly reading Hei's mind. "Well, I can it too, my friend."

Easily flipping the latch up from his Long Colt, Knives allowed the massive Angel Arm to form over him, crackling with molecular energy.

Too shocked to even register the display of ridiculous power before him, Hei remained frozen in place.

"Regardless…" began Knives, depowering the Arm and holstering his Long Colt, "I know you've chosen to work with those 'magicians'. Although it displeases me, I do understand the situation you're forced into."

Scum…?

"But for the moment, we appear to have the same goal."

Goal…?

"The girls." spoke Knives flatly, gesturing over to a group of frightened, cold servants, huddling together for warmth.

Having been so focused on the atrocity committed before him, Hei hadn't even noticed the group of serving girls as of the moment he entered the clearing.

"It would be…rather dangerous of me to return into their little 'society' at the moment. I leave them in your care." spoke Knives, turning away and walking towards the forest.

Just before his silhouette had completely disappeared from Hei's vision, Knives stopped briefly, to make one final, parting shot.

"Once you realize the futility of trying to save this world...I'm sure we'll meet again."

XXX

(a.n) Yayy, new chapter! I'm really sorry I write slow, but I'm here to assure you that I'm still writing this fic. I will truly try to get the next chapter out a tad sooner than this one, I swear!

As always, thank you for reading!

-Kavaznya


	7. Chapter 7 - Fallout

(a/n) "'I will truly try to get the next chapter out a tad sooner than this one, I swear!'"

...So that didn't happen.

School is really hard, and leaves me with much, much less time to write than I originally anticipated. However! I still really enjoy writing this fic, and I hope that if you've read up to this point, you enjoy reading it too! Although the updates are going to be somewhat slow, (hopefully not over 2 months again), unless something extraordinary happens, I will do my best to keep writing this!

Thank you Devad the Detective Overlord and Dragonrider314 for the follow, Blue Zenith for the fave, and especially Firesa for the fave/follow!

Reviews!

Drgyen - Thank you for the review! I'm glad you liked / agreed with how I chose to portray Knives! Although, I don't necessarily think that any one character will make the biggest changes. The angel arms, and Knives in general, are definitely powerful, but Hei and Nine both have their unique strengths they can play to extremely well, not to mention Schneizel. Also, in the next few chapters after this one, Schneizel, and especially Nine will get their respective chances to shine.

gold crown dragon - Thank you for the review!

DISCLAIMER: The following work is a fan-based piece of literature. The characters, events, and locations of Zankyou no Terror, Code: Geass - Lelouch of the Rebellion, Trigun, Darker than Black, and Familiar of Zero are all property of their respective owners.

"Words" - speaking

Words - Narration / Thought

(Words) - Location

X - Change of perspective

XX - Timeskip in scene

XXX - Change of scene

Chapter 7 - Fallout

(Tristain, Outside the Tristain Academy of Magic)

In the dead of night, a certain Black Reaper was slowly walking back to the Academy. Clad in a dark trench coat, a white, bloodied mask covering his weathered face, the man considered by even the darkest, vile contractors to be a terrifyingly inhuman existence, was shaken.

He had left the girls at the scene, knowing that first responders would have arrived shortly at the mansion.

Nobody could ignore that kind of fire.

He had even succeeded in bringing Siesta back from the clutches of that cruel, perverted nobleman. By all accounts, he should be ecstatic, or at least somewhat pleased with a job well-done. Yet, all he felt was…

Fear.

Hei could count on one hand the amount of times he'd been truly terrified of something. Faced with the complete annihilation of his race inside of Hell's gate three fateful years ago, all he felt then was a cold determination. Even now, faced with an opponent of unknown strength, godlike speed, terrifyingly accurate marksmanship, and even molecular manipulation to boot, he was able to somewhat keep his composure.

No. The thing he was afraid of…

Was himself.

Back at the manor, he stood, frozen at the carnage Knives wrought. Tens of servants, piled on top of each other, faces frozen in horrified shock and terror, while tens more lay unrecognizable, trapped and hidden beneath the flaming rafters and wood.

"I could never...would never do something like that." That was the despicable, self-serving lie he told himself, watching as the dying embers burned the remains of the manor to ash. But now, he couldn't even bring himself to try and believe it.

Although he tried to hide behind the mask of 'Li Shengshun', he was really no different than Knives.

He'd done horrible things in his lifetime, as the syndicate's _dog_. Something as trivial as massacring a mere house of medieval servants was child's play to his abilities. Before, he would have simply brushed it as necessary. But now…

Louise. That young, naive, innocent girl.

Just like Amber.

Just like Suou.

Just like _Bai_.

He'd tried to delude himself into thinking he could protect her, making himself into almost an older brother figure. But he had to stop this, stop lying to himself.

He was a hardened killer, trained from the ripe young age of ten years old to fight in a war he had no understanding of, just to try and protect his sister. And he'd won...at the cost of her life.

Louise...Louise was nothing like him. He couldn't allow that bright, pink-haired _tsundere_ to end up like everything and everyone he'd ever tried to care for.

He couldn't allow her to experience the horrors of the life he'd been through, couldn't allow that wide-eyed innocence to be shattered because of his own existence.

Even if it was for his own, selfish reasons.

But, before he could deal with that, there were things he needed to take care of.

Slowly, he looked down at the unconscious maid in his arms. When he found her, huddled with the other serving-girls for warmth, she had already passed out from the shock.

Not that he could blame her…

Hopefully, she passed out before she saw anything. Hei didn't want to have to live with the guilt of allowing such a massacre to be engraved into her mind. If she even saw a part of Knives' rampage, well…

No. He couldn't think like that. Not now.

Making his way towards the dining hall, he looked back on his situation once more.

He'd accomplished all he'd set out to do. Siesta was safe, the girls would go to the authorities, and the Count would never harm anyone in his life, ever again.

That's what mattered…

...Right?

XXX

(Commoner's Dining Hall)

Inside the kitchen, Marteau was gleefully humming to himself, imagining all of the ways that his newfound friend could humiliate and destroy that arrogant, lecherous noble.

Lost in his reverie, he almost didn't notice a faint knocking against the double-doors.

Almost.

He briefly wondered who would be knocking at such a Brimir-forsaken hour, before his mind immediately supplied the obvious answer.

Frantically setting the plates he was washing down, he rushed over to the cafeteria doors in a dead sprint, eager to receive news on the situation.

But he didn't expect to see Siesta, shivering and cold in Li's arms, dried blood caked into her dirty uniform.

"Li…" started Marteau in a low voice. "Explain exactly wha…"

"It's not her blood..." whispered the Black Reaper quietly, with an indecipherable emotion in his deep, black eyes.

"Then who's is…" started Marteau, before being cut off.

"I leave her in your care." spoke Hei bluntly, before turning around towards the doors.

"W-Wait! Hold on, you can't just leave! This is a wondrous occasion, Li, and we need to celebrate! I can call the chefs down here in an instant, we can hold a feast in your honor! We can…"

"Marteau."

"E-Eh?" started the head chef, taken aback by the man's harsh tone, before stopping once he saw his face.

Gone were the kind, amiable eyes of the jovial commoner. Even the grim and determined warrior he saw, rushing out of the dining hall mere hours earlier was completely missing from the man before him. Now, Li just looked...

 _Empty..._

"...Please take care of her."

Wordlessly, the head chef reached out and gently took Siesta from Hei's arms, before rushing off to gather the rest of the servants.

As Marteau dashed through the corridors, Siesta finally safe in his arms, he was only thinking one thing.

Just who was this Li Shengshun?

XXX

(Student Dormitory)

After a short walk, Hei finally reached Louise's dorm. A soft smile edged onto his face, happy to have returned again, before he ruthlessly suppressed it.

Sure, he wanted to be happy to see her again. In fact, he wanted nothing more to lay on that ridiculous straw mat, looking up at the ceiling with a surrogate younger sister at his side, his heart and mind at rest after having saved the day again.

But life wasn't some fairytale.

He wasn't some knight in shining armor. He was a killer. No, not even that. Even a killer was human. He was just...just...

Nothing but a _monster_.

That sharp, sickening thought pierced through his consciousness, overtaking and overwriting anything else.

He wanted to feel disgusted, angry at himself for thinking of himself this way. But he couldn't.

Because it was all true.

"...Ara? Is someone out there?", came a small, feminine voice, from inside the room.

How did she hear me…?

Hei asked himself this question, before looking down at his gloved hand, still gripping the doorknob.

It was...shaking?

No...not just the hand.

He was shaking.

Even now, with no danger to him at all, he was still deathly afraid. Afraid of what just his mere existence could do to that kind, innocent girl who stood less than a meter behind the door.

They were so close together at that moment...

...Yet Hei had never felt so alone.

Turning around, he dashed away with all his might. He couldn't bear to face Louise now.

Not like this.

..Maybe not ever.

Unnoticed by Hei, a single, rough tear slowly rolled down the side of his face, before vanishing into the darkness.

XXX

(The Next Day)

Louise slowly rubbed her eyes, as sunlight streamed through her shutters once more.

Sitting up in the bed, she looked around the room in a daze, as if trying to remember something.

"Mn...Li...what time is it?" murmured the half-awake mage.

As Louise slowly looked over towards the straw bed, her brow furrowed in confusion. Li was always there, either looking out the window, patiently waiting for her to get up, or in a light slumber, murmuring about some sort of cat and doll.

She really should get around to asking him about that.

Pushing the strange thought out of her mind, she focused again on the empty "bed".

Why was he not there?

Did he do something last night, and then had…

Last...night…

Eyes widening, Louise frantically shook herself out of the tangle of bedsheets, and ran as fast as her petite legs could carry her.

XXX

At the same time, a certain fire mage was casually walking down that very same hallway.

Normally, she would be happily skipping about, messing with the boys of the academy to her heart's content, while literally dragging Tabitha along with her.

But now, after being cruelly rejected and dismissed by Li, she just felt hollow. Even Tabitha, one of the few people she could depend on in a time like this, was nowhere to be found.

With such circumstances, it was truly a testament to her character than when a red-faced, out-of-breath Louise nearly ran straight into her chest, she was able to respond with her typical, energetic persona...

Even if it was just a facade.

"..What do we have here?" inquired Kirche teasingly.

"K-Kirche! Have you seen Li anywhere?!" exclaimed Louise frantically.

At the mention of "Li's" name, Kirche's face briefly darkened. Yet, she was still able to remain her composure.

"Li? Why would you be looking for...ohh, I see." responded Kirche, her trademark grin beginning to form.

"What do you mean 'I see?' Kirche, have you seen him or not, I really need to fin..." started the pinkette, before being cut off.

"Let me guess...In typical Louise fashion, you were so caught up in everything that happened, you even forgot that the _familiar exhibition_ was happening today?"

"F-familiar exhibition?"

That's right...thought Louise. That would be today, wouldn't it?

The day that every person on campus came to watch the second years show off their familiars, to prove themselves a step above everyone else, had finally come.

The old me, the one from only a week ago, would've probably been insanely dashing around campus with a whip, trying to beat my familiar into practicing for it...

X

Somewhere, across the vast and infinite multiverse, a young, Japanese boy in a light blue jacket, sneezed.

X

But now...now, it really feels like nothing at all.

After all that's happened in the past week, from dueling Guiche to near death, trying to infiltrate a Count's own territory to steal back a commoner, and even being _shot_ for Brimir's sake, something like trying to show off in front of my classmates feels like nothing important now.

Somehow...somehow, I've changed.

For the better? For the worse?

I guess only time will tell...

X

Meanwhile, Kirche was becoming fairly concerned at the sudden state of her friend.

She had just meant to tease Louise - not to make her suddenly freeze up like this!

"Eh...Louise? I know that its a big event...especially for you...but it's not really that big of a deal...right? Louise? Louise!"

As if suddenly awoken, Louise finally snapped out of her apparent daze.

"Yes, Kirche?"

"...Are you alright?"

"Yeah...I'm fine. Please let me know if you see him, Kirche." responded Louise decisively, before walking off.

"Sure…"

XXX

(Vestiri Courtyard)

Louise finally made it out to the courtyard without encountering anyone else. Yet as soon as she stepped outside, her brow immediately furrowed at the strange situation before her.

The entire courtyard was practically crawling with soldiers, all garbed in standard-issue Tristanian military uniforms, armed with particularly deadly-looking muskets.

Normally, whenever the princess traveled, she would be accompanied by rows of ceremonial members of the military, all adorned in fancy military garb, vests adorned with various medals and epaulettes.

But these soldiers now...they weren't ceremonial at all.

They were combat-ready troops, ready to form up and fight to the death any enemy of Tristain!

But as to who that enemy would be...Louise had no clue.

Out of the corner of her eye, Louise spotted the academy's guard-captain animatedly talking with a few of the royal guards, one of which was a stony-faced, orange-haired woman, who was evidently the leader.

Discreetly edging closer, Louise could faintly make out the dialogue taking place.

"...There is no cause for alarm, guard-captain. As lead of the Royal Musketeers, we'll bring this violent criminal to justice. Keep your men on standby, we'll..."

As Louise tried to decipher exactly what 'violent criminal' the two were talking about, she suddenly froze, as a familiar, soft voice appeared behind her.

"Hello, Louise…" started Henrietta, face covered in a large, purple cloak

X

Perched high above the courtyard, the very same "violent criminal" in question was looking down at the scene below, an unreadable expression on his face.

Naturally, he was able to make out the full extent of the conversation below him, internally grimacing all the while.

It appeared that Knives's stunt had more far-reaching ramifications than he thought.

However, he couldn't blame these "Royal Musketeers". Given a rouge individual that could destroy an entire noble estate, execute a hundred guardsmen, and defeat a triangle-class water mage in combat, it would be completely reasonable to consider him the prime suspect, especially considering his appearance at the scene.

But, what's done was done. He couldn't change the past...so he could only look to the future.

He could always just disappear - stealthily vaulting over the edge of the Academy walls, never to be seen or heard from again.

But after all he'd gone through in the past week, he couldn't bear to do that to Louise.

If he allowed himself to be captured, however, he wouldn't even stand a remote chance at a trial. He would be treated as a 'fallen noble' by their system, and subject to incredible scorn, derision, and persecution by both the commoners, for executing their kind, and the nobles, for obvious reasons. He would be condemned in a sham trial, imprisoned, and most likely executed.

But, he at least had to go through the process. At the very least, since he was technically Louise's familiar, he would be able to clear her name by shifting the focus of the charges himself. If she were to be blamed, even partially, for the violent massacre he'd witnessed…

No. It wouldn't come to that. It _couldn't_ come to that.

But regardless of his choice, he would still have to leave Louise. In that regard, he would have to get someone to at least try and protect her for him, to teach and shelter her while he no longer could.

None of the teachers could be considered reliable. Kirche and Tabitha were alright, but they were just students. And he couldn't even begin to seriously consider trying to put her under Schneizel's care. Yet, there was one other person still...

Nine.

Although the kid had seemed shaken from the reality of being teleported to another dimension at first, Hei could tell that there was something much, much more to the raven-haired child than he initially let on. Especially considering the types of people he was brought along to this "world" with.

If Nine was a person capable of being compared with a tyrannical prime minister that controlled 40% of the world, and an insane, mass-murdering gunman with a destructive power that rivaled Hei's own, then he should have no problems taking care of Louise in his absence.

No matter how long that might be.

Silently, Hei slipped away from the edge of the rooftop, and raced to the Academy's Vault.

XXX

(Academy Vault)

A certain raven-haired youth sunk into the back of a chair, wiping sweat from his brow.

For the past week, he had tirelessly been creating various practical explosive devices from the meager materials he had found within the vault itself. Even though there were certainly some benefits to the situation, such as an American-made M72 Law anti-tank weapon, or the wide assortment of military-grade electronic hardware that he'd never have been able to acquire in Japan, the process was still incredibly taxing on him.

Yet, he persevered. In this foreign, new world, his strength simply wasn't comparable to one of the professors with magic, let alone Hei or that insane gunman. If he were to be able to survive, then while Schneizel schemed and manipulated, and Hei adventured and fought, he had to play to his one true strength as well - bomb making.

Being generally low-profile was always a talent of his, slipping in and out of the Tokyo metropolis with the guise of an average, school-attending teenager, sewing chaos wherever he went. In this strange world, he was able to maintain such a facade easily, secretly constructing and building up his strength behind closed doors.

So, it was naturally surprising to Nine when Hei slowly walked through the massive, oaken double doors and inside the Vault, a grim expression on his face.

"...Can I help you, Hei?"

X

As Hei entered the impromptu workshop, he wasn't exactly sure what to expect. But an assortment of disassembled weapons, combined with various improvised explosive devices and detonators, was certainly not it.

Silently, he praised his intuition once again. This kid, whoever he was, was certainly much more complex than he appeared.

Just like me…

"...Can I help you, Hei?"

Hei was shaken out of his mild reverie, and rapidly responded.

"Nine...can you take care of Louise for me?"

"...Take care of her? Are you going somewhere?" responded the terrorist mildly.

"Yes...I don't have much time. Can I count on you…?"

"Of course, Hei. I'll protect her for you."

"...Thank you…" whispered the Black Reaper, before turning to leave the room.

"Hei."

"?"

The Black Reaper stopped dead in his tracks.

"If the situation is as serious as you're implying...take this." spoke Nine, tossing a small, conic package at him.

Easily, Hei caught the object, turning it over in his hand. The object within was obviously improvised, yet the construction was exceedingly sturdy and solid. Judging by the shape and appearance of it, it could only be…!

"This is a shaped charge! Why did you…" started the Hei, before being cut off.

"Those troops crawling around this campus...they're looking for you, aren't they?"

"…"

"Judging by the fact that you haven't killed them, left, or came to me sooner, do you intend to turn yourself in?"

Inwardly, Hei was stunned once again. This kid...his intellect was truly terrifying.

"This will blow a clean hole through any shoddy jail-cell wall any prison in this era will have. Use it wisely."

"...Nine…"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you."

"No problem."

With the situation resolved, Hei finally left the room.

All of the conditions had been cleared. Now, there was only one thing left he could do.

XXX

(Schneizel's Temporary Office)

Inside a sparsely decorated room, behind a table filled with indecipherable notes and drawings, the ex-Britannian Emperor sat with his eyes closed, in deep contemplation.

It had been exactly a week since his arrival into this new world, known as "Halkegenia". Nothing more than a trivial statistic, but something to, at the very least, apply some measure of sentimentality to to. After all, he'd certainly made the most of the time and resources he'd had available.

Studying the maps of the world had proved incredibly insightful. The country, if he dared call the small, loosely-bounded 'Tristain' such, was positioned roughly equivalent to Belgium, bordered by a war-driven military powerhouse Germania, the largest of Halkegenia's "Four Kingdoms", to the north, representing Germany. With Gallia to the southeast, seemingly representing ancient, Gallic France, and the floating island of Albion representing Area Zero, the former Britannian homeland, the whole area struck him remarkably similar to the western nation-states of Europia United. He'd have to do more research on the political relations of the other three states, but he had an instinctual feeling the similarities would continue.

Maybe he was closer to home than he realized...

Naturally, having lived in a society 400 years further into the future, he would be able to theoretically dominate this era, with his superior intellectual and historical knowledge, let alone the technical aspect.

He'd funded A.S.S.E.C. for nearly a decade now, and he could be considered almost as intimately knowledgeable about their creations as that maniacal, sociopathic Earl he'd recruited to direct the damn thing. Yet, the successes of the program were truly undeniable.

If he would be able to somehow unleash the power of the Knightmare Frames on this era…

Yet, he was truly getting ahead of himself. As an ancient Chinese philosopher once wrote, in a time well before the formation of the Chinese Federation, "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."

Now, nearly all the conditions had been cleared. His plan was clearly created and defined, and he had finally found his first possible foothold into the political realm, a landing point, so to say, for him to finally step to.

The arrival of the Crown Princess Henrietta to witness the yearly familiar exhibition.

Her mother had stepped down off of the throne, following the recent death of her father, and left to become bedridden. The regent, an old man surprisingly popular among the masses of the commoners, was still an old man nonetheless. He could easily die of natural causes, or other, more...direct methods, leaving nothing but a scared, lonely teenager on the throne, likely at the center of a power struggle between not only the 'castes' of Tristain, but the neighboring, predatory nations as well.

In that situation, if she were to look to the kind, intelligent, well-educated foreign-born noble, who'd steadfastly been by her side since well before the crisis, and able to help guide her and aid her country through such tumultuous times, well…

The rest would be simple.

Even Hei, or "Li", as he went by, acted in general accordance to the plan. In defending the lives and honor of that Japanese maid...Siesta, was it? by pulverizing that schoolchild out in a public setting, he established himself as a powerful figure, a force not to be ignored, but reckoned with as a credible threat. However noble or grand his cause was, the net result of such a brutal demonstration of overpowering force was recognition, further adding to his probable impact in the case of the 'familiar exhibition'.

As his "employer", he naturally had to act infuriated that a "fallen noble" under his employ would be acting up and causing trouble within a "foreign nation". Yet by that same link of status, it would be trivially easy to gain the opportunity to converse and subtly manipulate that young would-be queen, after her inevitable shock and wonder at the "powerful and gifted thunder-mage" familiar during the exhibition

But now, all of that was thrown into jeopardy.

It was his own fault, really. By all means, that nondescript, smiling face under Hei's mask should've been just a front, nothing more than a clever diversion to draw attention away from his true self. But it appeared that the man was truly more emotional than he had realized.

After that same Japanese maid was forced into bondage by that dreadful, overweight man, even he was a little morally repulsed. It was even his expectations for Hei to attempt to rescue the girl, and he probably would've been successful if he tried. He'd originally thought little of that possibility, with no aftereffects than a significantly scared and fearful nobleman, and Hei gaining some respect among the common-born staff of the Academy.

However, after receiving word that the mansion of the _dear-departed count_ was burned to the ground, all of its guards and residents executed, his expression had instantly became ugly.

He wasn't an idiot - far from it, in fact. He could easily see the thought process that led up to the event. Hei, a strong, powerful figure, after an immoral, disgusting scene reminds him of some traumatic past event, and flies into a rage, only realizing he's done after brutally unleashing his destructive power, destroying everything in sight.

Hei didn't seem like the person to fall victim to such a ridiculous trope, but it had obviously been a miscalculation on his part.

Faced with such a crisis, Schneizel would've normally abused the situation to consolidate his own power, or at least cut ties with Hei in the most diplomatically advantageous manner, preserving his own self-interests above all. It was a strategy ingrained into him since birth - As the Crown Prince of the Britannian Court and later the true 99th Brittanian Emperor, his continued survival was the strongest testament to its effectiveness.

Yet, he realized something else at that moment. Before, he had dismissed Hei as nothing more than a cold, calculating, trained killer. Able to control the power of electricity, he could assassinate nearly anyone - an unrivaled, stoic, silent weapon.

But now, he had finally witnessed the truth. Hei, who he had initially disregarded as nothing but a weapon, was truly a man - He could feel warm affection, overwhelming hate, and therefore, everything else.

He no longer had to fear such a man - for every man had a weakness, and he finally discovered Hei's own.

And weaknesses could be exploited.

Given such a revelation, Schneizel, in a decision completely unbecoming of himself, chose to disregard the structured, safe approach, and decided to save Hei.

He knew that Hei would naturally turn himself in, if only to futilely try and clear the name of Louise, the clearest, most defined, most _exploitable_ emotional attachment of his.

But putting himself in such a dangerous position by acting, Schneizel was making an incredibly risky, bold, and audacious gamble, effectively putting his life on the line as his 'wager'. If he failed, he would lose everything.

But if he succeeded…

He could gain more benefits than he could possibly imagine.

He would gain the undying respect and devotion of Louise. He had already managed to force her into submission with fear. If he could then take the one thing, the one person she was finally able to truly bond and connect with and save him from the society she'd been ostracized from all her life, then he truly would have control over her.

He would gain the trust of Hei as well. With this action, he would be able to not only clear his name, but also Louise's as well. As 'master' over her 'familiar', she would be vulnerable to all sorts of repercussions from such a scandal. Given his sudden apparent emotional streak, that would be yet another exploit, another avenue of power that Schneizel would have over the mysterious assassin.

But above all, this would be his chance to finally break into the political scene. The authorities would undoubtedly try and force a show trial, and put forth a case of tried-and-true 'justice' being handed down to a noble, for ardently abusing their 'God-given privilege' of 'magic', to assuage the unruly mass commoners, a massive, sleeping power that could threaten the country as a whole. All the major players would be in attendance, if just to keep their face about the community.

If he were able to succeed, then forget about Henrietta, the entire array of political powerhouses in the country would take some notice of him, and help him truly gain _real_ power, whether they knew it or not.

The intense beating of his heart, combined with the rush of adrenaline at these wild thoughts filled him with an strange feeling of excitement, a sort of dangerous exhilaration he'd never dared to feel before. The future was no longer a carefully calculated possibility, thought out in stringent, exacting detail before being executed to the letter. He was quite seriously betting his future on a single gambit, one with a real possibility of power.

Yet, in the face of this uncertainty, he didn't feel the slightest bit of fear. The only feeling remaining within his heart was one of blazing determination, to go and seize not only his future, but the world's!

"I wonder…" spoke Schneizel aloud, finally opening his eyes. "Is this how Lelouch felt?"

With a cold smile forming on his lips, he stood up from the oaken table, before grabbing his Britannian suit and jacket, and slowly walked out the door.

XXX

(Louise's Dorm)

Meanwhile, Louise and Henrietta were happily talking with one another, joking and laughing as they both reminisced about old times, with the tense, dangerous atmosphere outside completely forgotten.

"Louise...you've summoned a familiar, right?" asked Henrietta. "Do you mind if I see?"

"Oh...I was looking for him when I ran into you, Henrietta…"

"I see...then, can you tell me about 'him'?"

"Hm...He's really nice, smart, and he eats an absolutely ridiculous amount of food...but in a fight, he's really frightening!"

"Ohh! What kind of familiar is he! Louise...don't tell me...did you summon a dragon?"

"...Eeh? No...he's a human, Henrietta."

"A human?! By the founder, Louise...I have no clue how you managed to pull that off. Anyway, the familiar exhibition is today...do you know if I'll be able to meet him then?"

At that moment, Hei, seemingly out of breath, and garbed in his trademark combat pants and trench coat, burst into the room.

"Li! There you are! Where have you…" started Louise, before being cut off.

"Louise, I don't have much time, so please, just listen."

Meanwhile, Henrietta froze in shock.

Black hair, tall, foreign features, and a black overcoat. There was no mistaking the identity of the man who stood before her.

"Louise, I have to go...maybe for a very long time." continued Hei. "I need you to promise me something, while I'm gone."

"Li, what do you mea…"

"Louise...please, whatever you do, live a good life. Whatever happens to me doesn't matter at this point. Just please…

"Li, are you saying?! Please, I don't understa.."

"You...it was you, wasn't it…" whispered Henrietta, a palpable expression of horror marring her otherwise-beautiful face.

"..."

"Li, what's she talking about? Please, Li, just answer me!"

"You...you killed them. All those innocent people...you...killed them..."

Suddenly, Henrietta drew her wand from inside her cloak, and levelled it at Hei's head.

"H-Henrietta!" cried a panic-stricken Louise. "What's going on!"

"Back away from him, Louise! He's dangerous!" shouted Henrietta, finally shaken out of her frozen, shocked state.

"Henrietta! This is all just a misunderstanding! Li! Say something! Please!"

"...Louise..."

"Y-Yes?"

"...You have to live."

At that moment, the door to the dorm was completely blown off its hinges, as ten uniformed soldiers burst into the room, let by an enraged, orange-haired young woman.

Immediately, they all leveled their firearms at Hei's head in unison, each's fingers tense, and resting on the triggers

"Your Highness, are you alright?!"

"Yes, I'm fine, Agnes." responded Henrietta somewhat shakily, wand still leveled at the back of Hei's head.

Turning her focus away from Henrietta, the orange-haired woman roared, "Li Shengshun...I, Agnes Chevalier de Milan, with the authority bestowed in me by my Queen, hereby place you under arrest! Do not resist, under penalty of death!"

XXX

As always, thank you for reading!

-Kavaznya


	8. Chapter 8 - Fallout (II)

(a/n) Happy New Year everyone!

Thank you Link0011 and 123ABIR123 for the fave, and especially Mrgabriel327sm, darkpit65, abciluvpie, Doniol, altron15, blackdog420, and Redilier for the fave/follow!

Reviews!

gold crown dragon - Thank you for the review!

Drgyen - Thank you for the review! I'm sorry if the last chapter was kind of not clear about that, hopefully this chapter explains the idea I was going for more directly.

DISCLAIMER: The following work is a fan-based piece of literature. The characters, events, and locations of Zankyou no Terror, Code: Geass - Lelouch of the Rebellion, Trigun, Darker than Black, and Familiar of Zero are all property of their respective owners.

"Words" - speaking

Words - Narration / Thought

(Words) - Location

 _Words_ \- Japanese

X - Change of perspective

XX - Timeskip in scene

XXX - Change of scene

Chapter 8 - Fallout (II)

(Louise's dorm)

Inside the small, one-bedroom dorm, the Black Reaper stood, facing towards the room's lone window. Beside him, a short, pink-haired girl was begging, pleading for him to respond, tears marring her otherwise beautiful face, while a violet-haired princess stood on his other side, shakily pointing her wand at his skull. Behind them, ten female Royal Musketeers took aim, each levelling their smoothbore weapons with practiced skill and efficiency, their efforts led by a fierce, raging orange-haired woman at the center.

Yet, the Reaper did not move.

"Louise..."

"On your knees!" cried Agnes, her rough, calloused finger a hair's breadth away from the trigger.

"Louise...do you promise?"

"L-Li...please...stop thi…"

"Please…" whispered Hei almost inaudibly, his voice faintly cracking.

Briefly shocked by the sudden, broken tone she alone heard, Louise jerkily moved her head once, in unspoken response.

Hei returned a soft smile, before slowly raising his hands above his head, as he knelt down on the wooden floor. A strange emotion flickered briefly in his dark eyes, before falling away to emptiness, as the tension in his muscles finally dissipated

Two of the larger, stronger women immediately came forward, having holstered their muskets in preparation. One forcibly restrained Hei from behind, although he did not offer any resistance, while the other securely attached a large pair of iron manacles to his gloved wrists, binding them rigidly behind his back.

Roughly, they pulled the still-smiling reaper to his feet, before shoving him out the door, the weapons of the eight others still trained on his head. Henrietta, still shaken, followed from behind, as Agnes gently guided her out of the room.

The dorm, filled with a deadly, boiling tension mere moments before, had been completely emptied - save for the lone, crying form of one Louise Vallière.

The past minute had been a blur to her, a fast, terrifying sequence that before she knew it, was over.

Sixty seconds was all it took for Louise's entire world to be ripped away.

Tears streaming from her red, puffy eyes, Louise fell to her knees, before slowly curling into a ball on the cold, wooden floor.

XXX

(Vestiri Courtyard)

Briskly, Schneizel strode across the campus of the academy, with a practiced speed and power in his stride. Struck by his overwhelming presence, servant, student, and teacher alike rapidly moved aside to allow his passage. Yet, quite contrary to the annoyed, hurried mask he wore, internally, Schneizel felt nothing but excitement.

He had thrown caution to the winds of fate - his future, his **destiny** , were in his hands, and his alone.

Now, the only thing left to do was take it.

His eyes scanned the area before him, before landing on a certain, frightened serving girl, head dutifully lowered, as if hoping not to be noticed. His mind immediately identified her as the maid named Siesta - no last name, as they weren't given to commoners of this world anyway. No matter. With her association to Louise, she wouldn't hesitate to provide accurate information concerning the events in play, a risk he'd run by talking to anyone else.

"You, there. Black haired serving girl." commanded Schneizel imperiously, keeping up with his carefully-constructed facade.

"Y-Yes Sir Schneizel?" squeaked Siesta, her head instantly snapping upwards..

"Have you seen Miss Vallière's familiar? If so, where?"

A brief, almost imperceptible look of conflict appeared on her face, as if deciding whether or not to reveal the truth. Yet, when weighing it against the deadly repercussions of being caught in a lie, especially concerning Ms. Vallière's status, she resolved to tell the truth without omission.

"Sir Schneizel, I saw him being escorted down towards the main gate by princess Henrietta's royal musketeers! Please excuse this ignorant commoner, I know nothing more of the situation." she spoke respectfully and rapidly, afraid of deadly retribution from the noble before her.

"Much obliged, commoner." responded Schneizel, before turning away, resuming his brisk pace. Behind him, he could make the previously bowing servants let out a distinct sigh of relief.

Mentally preparing himself one final time, the ex-Prime Minister set out towards the gate.

XXX

(Tristain Academy, Main Gate)

Meanwhile, Hei was being ruthlessly led towards a large carriage caravan of carriages stationed at the front of the massive pentagonal complex of the academy. Hands bound behind his back in chains, he appeared as nothing more than a condemned prisoner, resigned to his fate.

He didn't want the situation to end up this way. But with such large-scale destruction at the manor, the nobility would definitely try to find a scapegoat for it, as it would be impossible for them to track down "Knives". And what better a person that the fallen noble coincidentally at the scene? Viewed as almost unanimously unfavorable by the caste system, the people in power would jump at the chance for such an easy trial, and the chance to wrap the situation up as quickly as possible. The serving girls wouldn't be able to testify, to ensure a guilty verdict, and any who dared to speak out against the nobility afterward would be at best dismissed as hysterical, or at worst…

It wouldn't come to that.

It **couldn't** come to that.

And Louise...she would be caught in their investigation as well, just by association as master to familiar. While she probably wouldn't be executed, her life would he effectively over. As a loyal familiar, he would have no choice but to…

Loyal familiar?

No, that's not right. Why would I think that?

Regardless, I…

"Excuse me! Excuse me!" came an irritated, powerful voice from behind him, cutting off any errant thoughts.

That voice...it could only be…!

Looking up in shock, Hei witnessed Schneizel rapidly walking towards the group. Yet, in stark contrast to the cold, analytical prime minister of before, he was now exuding a sickeningly overconfident, demeaning aura.

Just what the hell is he playing at?

X

I can see Hei, bound up in iron manacles, flanked by ten soldiers. The princess is at front of the group, clearly shaken, while an orange-haired woman mans up the rear of the "caravan", her unique uniform denoting her status as "Chevalier".

That coincides perfectly with my information - Agnes Chevalier de Milan, captain of the Tristanian Musketeer Corps, Henrietta's "Royal Guard", so to speak. Yet in reality, it wasn't worthy of being called much of a guard at all. While usage of firearms to bridge the ability gap between commoner and noble was a relatively novel idea, the technology of the world hadn't advanced enough to make it remotely feasible in actual combat - at the moment, it was nothing more than an idealistic farce.

Yet, the combat effectiveness of her personal group does not concern myself at this moment. At least, provided I play my cards correctly.

Taking a deep breath, I compose myself. After I take this step, I truly can no longer back out.

"Excuse me! Excuse me!" I call out imperiously.

They stop moving. Perfect. I feel all their eyes upon me, with various expressions, ranging from mere annoyance, to downright disgust and anger. As expected, none of them appreciate the sudden appearance of a pompous, self-assured noble such as "myself".

Out of the corner of my eye, I notice Hei's frigid stare, which I tactically choose to ignore. I'll have more than enough time to resolve that issue soon enough.

Presently, I have two options available: I can either address the princess directly, which would be difficult to do effectively as a mere "foreign noble", or, I can pressure the next highest-ranking individual: Agnes.

I choose to go with the latter.

It's hard to ignore Agnes's violently confrontational demeanor - she's not even bothering to conceal her anger at my interruption, and her right hand is resting on what I can only conclude to be a flintlock pistol buried within her white coat. As an individual who took the daring initiative to construct a guard exclusively containing no nobles whatsoever, this overtly hostile attitude falls within my expectations.

Predictably, the same attitude also makes her much easier to exploit.

Now, all I need to do to is apply a bit of **pressure.**

"What, exactly, do you think you're doing with my subordinate, Chevalier de Milan?!" I exclaim, carefully blending equal proportions of outrage and anger into my voice.

Her expression instantly hardens, before reforming into a stony mask, with her previous hatred barely concealed underneath. It appears she has at least some measure of self-control. How interesting...

"This "subordinate" of yours has been arrested for over one-hundred counts of premeditated murder." growls Agnes in response, her eyes somehow narrowing further. "I don't care who you are, but unless you want to join him for obstruction of a royal investigation, **get out of my way."**

That riled up already? Clearly, my assumption was correct - she was the blatantly emotional type.

I've laid my bait - time to spring the trap.

"You dare speak to me in such a manner, you impudent commoner?!" I roar in feigned shock and indignation. Immediately, I reach inside my Britannian robes for my imaginary wand, concealed within a make-believe inside pocket, while Agnes simultaneously draws her own weapon, only to be abruptly halted as Henrietta places a firm hand on her shoulder.

We both freeze - my right hand still hidden by my overcoat, while her pistol is leveled at my head, hammer primed, finger a hair's breadth from the trigger.

I have no doubt that if Henrietta had acted a moment later, my esteemed brains would've been splattered all over the granite sidewalk.

A bit closer timing than I would've liked, but it was absolutely integral that I force the princess into the situation directly. Everything should be easier from this point onward.

Slowly, albeit begrudgingly, Agnes slowly lowers the pistol, acting on Henrietta's unspoken command. Likewise, I allow my right hand to fall at my side, evidently having released my grip on my imaginary wand.

"That is enough, Agnes." commands Henrietta. Her voice is soft, yet the undercurrent within her tone is unquestionably firm. "We've witnessed enough death already, and I have no intention of allowing any more."

After her stern reprimand, she turns to face me, any previous traces of warmth in her expression vanishing.

"Sir Schneizel, the same goes for you as well. If you attempt to draw your wand against my personal guard again, then I will not intervene on your behalf."

A good threat, but an empty one, and she knows it. The "House of Britannia" doesn't exist within Tristain, I checked thoroughly. Thus, she had no choice to assume that I am of foreign origin - After all, the only individual who knows the true nature of our arrival is the headmaster, a variable irrelevant to the current situation. Regardless, the death of a visiting noble, by a commoner no less, would be tantamount to political suicide on an international scale.

Yet, pushing that issue will do me no good, at least not at the current moment, so I simply accept her words.

"Duly noted, your highness." I respond, my mask instantly switching, having replaced my previous "arrogance" with a calm, conversational smile. "However, the issue pertaining my subordinate still stands. At the very least, I request travel with your group to the place of his trial."

Let's see what she does with that information.

"I'm terribly sorry, Schneizel, but our main carriages are all full. Naturally, you may travel as a guest within the prisoner's carriage, if you so insist." replies the princess, a small smirk forming on her face.

I mentally applaud the approach. Calling "check", she forces me to pick between two moves, either losing even more face by retracting my words, or demeaning the status I flaunted earlier by sitting in a carriage designed for commoner criminals.

I take the third option.

"Thank you, your highness." I reply easily, maintaining my placid, friendly smile. "I'm grateful for your most generous offer, allowing me to converse with my trusted subordinate for the duration of the journey. After all, such is the custom of our society…"

"Really, now…" responds the princess, her eyes slightly narrowing. Yet I do not yield an inch, my mask impenetrable to her piercing eyes. I hold her gaze, until she is forced to look away, turning towards her carriage without another word.

Honestly, I'd expected a bit more of a challenge.

I watch as Hei is ruthlessly shoved inside the prison car, before calmly stepping inside myself.

XXX

(Outside Tristain Academy of Magic, Prisoner's Carriage)

Why is **he** here.

That's my only thought as I find myself bound to the carriage seat in chains, forced to stare at the placidly grinning prime minister sitting across from me.

I can't figure out what his game is.

Against someone as crafty and manipulative as Schneizel el Britannia, that's something I cannot allow.

In the few hours we've been together, he's said nothing to me specifically. Yet, his light-purple eyes have been constantly boring into mine, almost as if they were searching for something.

What that thing is, I haven't a clue.

But I can't take the silence any longer.

"Why are you…" I begin, before being cut off.

"Anata wa sore o shimashita ka?" _(Did you do it?)_

(a/n: _Italics_ = _Japanese_ )

I can't respond either way: any answer he'll be able to use against me. My only option is to stay silent.

"…"

My eyes narrow in response - I can tell he understands the implied message.

Schneizel places a finger to his lips and...smiles?

" _Good. It seems that you still understand Japanese, if not able to speak it. That will make things significantly easier._ _Do not verbally respond, as I'm nearly certain that we're being listened in on, and possibly even watched."_

My eyes widen. How could they…

Magic. Of course it would be **magic**.

I slightly tilt my head in response, to signify my comprehension.

" _Excellent. Now, Hei, humor me for a bit, will you? I'm going to ask you a series of questions - blink once for 'yes', or blink twice for 'no'."_

I give no response.

" _Obviously, you can remain silent. I realize that I cannot force you to answer to me, Hei. Yet, if you choose to defy me, then I can guarantee you Ms. Vallière will be in the same situation as you within three days."_

He wouldn't dare…!

My eyes instinctively begin to glow red, yet suddenly stop as I hear the loud "clang" of the chains behind me, preventing me from moving my body any further.

Schneizel returns a knowing smirk.

Grudgingly, I deactivate my contract, before ever-slowly moving my head to gaze directly at him.

"...You have my attention."

" _I knew you'd be rational about this, Hei."_

My eye twitches at the word.

X

For a split second, his mask slips. Yet as soon as it does, it is instantly replaced by his cold, blank eyes once more.

An interesting reaction. Yet, I have more pressing matters to deal with now.

" _First question, Hei, simply for clarification's sake. Are you aware of why you're being detained?"_

Blink.

" _That makes things much easier. Second question: Were you at the manor when it was attacked?"_

Blink.

That much I was nearly certain about. Now, for the harder questions.

" _Was Louise there?"_

Two blinks this time, in rapid, almost frantic succession. That much was believable - he wouldn't want her to see him commit a massacre.

" _Good. One less variable."_

Briefly I pause, if for nothing more than dramatic effect.

" _Did you kill them?"_

He doesn't respond - at least, not immediately. I do not move my gaze, and neither does he. His facial features remain perfectly impassive, obviously the result of countless years upon years of practice. Yet, within his eyes, I can see the faintest flicker of conflict, of indecision, of **deception**.

Finally, he blinks once. But it's meaningless to me.

I'd planned for him to admit to the killings, and then press him further to force him to my side...but to think that he didn't kill them at all!

No. I can't panic. I agreed with myself I'd go through with this plan. All I need to do now is to adapt to the situation.

I sigh with feigned exasperation.

" _If you lie to me, then how, as your "employer", am I to assist you?"_

"I don't need your assistance, **Sir.** " he responds, through gritted teeth.

So he's even willing to tacitly admit he's not the culprit. Then why…? Why is he putting his life on the line like this?

Calm. I must remain calm. My original plan is still applicable - regardless of his actual guilt or innocence, he's still planning to martyr himself. If I change my approach slightly, then the desired results should still be attainable.

" _Is that so, Hei? Then, I take it, as you haven't escaped yet, considering you have the complete capability to, then you intend to turn yourself in, in a futile attempt to protect that pathetic girl?"_

I earn a violent glare in response - I'm headed in the correct direction.

" _Hah! How laughable."_ I continue. " _I suppose also that after the maids are barred from testimony to cement you as the sole, legitimate perpetrator, you'll then gallantly proclaim your complete and absolute guilt, protecting your so-called master from prosecution while heroically hanging from a noose?_

A brief flash of astonishment this time, before the glare returns. Seems I've guessed right again.

" _So you allow yourself to be captured, and with the testimony of her classmates, Louise_ _ **might**_ _escape execution, while your suspended corpse is publicly desecrated, before being buried in an unmarked grave. Is that the culmination of the grand plan you've decided upon, Hei?"_

He raises his head, a glint of cold determination in his eyes.

"If that's what it will take."

I begin to retort again, but stop. That response...I expected him to be emotional, but this...this is beyond expectations.

No.

This isn't just beyond expectations. This change, this attitude...the only possible explanation is a fundamental variable I've left out of the equation. If this was his genuine personality, that he'd throw away his life for a girl he'd known for all of a week…

Any assassin with that soft a heart couldn't possibly survive in his trade. I can only assume that although his emotionality was somewhat present beforehand, before being amplified into what it is now by something originating from this world.

And the only plausible reason would be…!

X

I see a flicker of contemplative concern flash across Schneizel's face, and he looks almost worried at my response. Yet, as quick as the emotion appears, it is gone, his face twisting into a cruel, mocking sneer.

" _Sure, if you do this, Louise will end up alive. Possibly. Yet...she'll be mercilessly harassed and socially isolated for the rest of her life, demonized as even more of a pathetic failure than she was before. Did you know, Hei, that she is unable to cast normal magic? Or were you too busy indulging in your little self-absorbed fantasy, play-acting as some sort of fairytale knight?_

"You dare…" I growl angrily, my voice subconsciously lowering.

" _I dare to what? Point out your shameless hypocrisy? You'd go to the grave with no concern for anyone else based on a selfish, inaccurate notion of some noble 'heroic sacrifice', and you have the_ _ **audacity**_ _to challenge my words?_

My eyes begin to glow red - if he continues to recklessly insult me or my loyalty to Louise, to my master, then I'll...

" _Of course, not that it'd even matter for much longer."_ he scoffs. " _Picture it, Hei. An emotionally broken teenager, having bawled her eyes out over your mangled corpse, decides that she can't go on living anymore without her 'noble' and 'valiant' familiar."_

" _The central tower of the academy is certainly suitable for such an_ _occasion_ _,_ _don't you think?_

Through my anger, I feel a single, white-hot thought flash through my mind with terrifying power.

 **Kill.**

The manacles binding me are nothing compared to my fury - I mercilessly shatter the ionic bonds holding their molecules them together with my contract.

Rapidly unsheathing the knife from my coat, my arm shoots forward, powered by my pure, unadulterated rage.

 **I'll kill him.**

X

I can feel it. He's almost at his breaking point. Just a bit more…

" _The central tower is certainly suitable for such an_ _ **occasion**_ _, don't you think?"_

Immediately, I can tell that I've pushed him over the edge.

The world seems to move in slow motion around me. Primal anger flares within his jet-black eyes, and I hear the shrill clanging of iron as it is forcibly ripped apart.

Hei's knife moves towards me with lethal speed - sparks already coming of the blade. If I allow it to contact my body, I'll be killed instantaneously.

Just as planned.

My hand is already in position to counter, and I strike the wrist with practiced precision, falling back on the self-defense training instilled into me by my countless tutors in Pendragon. With the energy from my strike, I'm able to divert the knife's path enough that it ends up impaling the carriage's wall, mere centimeters from my head.

Taking advantage of his momentary immobility, I quickly reach out towards his left hand, ripping the glove off with all my might, to reveal the inscribed rune, glowing brilliantly against the dark interior of the carriage.

I see the shock in his eyes, and his anger instantly subsides, replaced instead with a solemn understanding, as the knife clatters to the ground.

Secondary objective, complete.

X

I was a fool.

Somehow, in little under a week, I'd allowed my psyche to become twisted to such an extent that I was even willing to **die** for my "master".

I'd fought contractors like this before, and left them nothing more than charred, eviscerated corpses. But against a small, powerless teenage girl…!

I truly am pathetic.

If Schneizel hadn't stepped in when he did, then…

No. I couldn't allow myself to think of that possibility any longer.

I raise my hung head, and am greeted by a mild, sympathetic expression.

" _I thought as much. No matter how emotional you truly are, something had to be influencing you, most likely subconsciously. I apologize for my previous statements, Hei, but I had to confirm it for both of us."_

I can give no response.

" _Do you understand the gravity of the situation now?"_ he asks.

I blink once.

" _Good...However, given your certain...decisions, I hope you'll forgive me for not putting my utmost faith in your resistance of the rune's control. Thus, I've put in place a sort of contingency plan, if you will."_

I fight back a flash of anger at the thought. But the emotion is not my own.

Just how long have I been blind to this…?

" _When you, in your enraged state, attempted to impale my head with that knife of yours, you may not have felt our carriage's forward momentum abruptly cease, nor heard the footsteps of the guards rapidly approaching from the outside."_

No...that would mean…!

" _Albeit merely a hunch at first, I can say with certainty that we are, and have been, visually monitored._ "

My eyes widen at the revelation. In the time it took me to thrust a knife at his head, he'd been able to perceive that much?!

" _Naturally, they would noticed the burning familiar mark on your hand, coupled with your violent act of aggression. Now, say, if you were to try to turn yourself in, who, then, would the majority of the blame fall on?_ "

I'm blinded with fury once again, as that **coward** dare threaten the life of my mast...

Stop.

Slowly, I come back to myself. My blade is pressed up against his throat, while my body is surrounded in a pale blue, a side effect of the Lancelnopt Synchotron radiation from my activated contract. I forcibly slow down my breathing, and feel the rage slowly subside as I take back control, carefully re-sheathing my knife.

Schneizel seems merely amused at the situation.

" _It seems that you contain enough critical thinking to understand the consequences of killing me, whatever you are. Should you, by direct or indirect influence, attempt to cause Hei to disobey my instructions in any way, well...that would be very_ _ **disappointing**_ _, wouldn't it?"_

I feel a wild surge of anger almost begin once again, before it abruptly dies down, only to simmer just beneath the outer surface of my emotions.

I catch my breath once again, before silently returning his gaze.

" _Good. Hei, I've nullified the issue of the rune's influence on you, at least for the duration of this affair. Yet, the predicament you've placed us into is not a particular easy one to resolve, especially due to the extremely unfortunate nature of the situation"_

"...?"

" _The official palace messenger is executed in his own home, while a hundred other commoner guards, working hard to earn a living for their families, are found dead alongside him. Now consider your position, as a "fallen noble", Cast out and disparaged by the nobility for lacking a title, and hated by commoners by sheer nature of nobility, someone of this unique status would make the perfect perpetrator for a crime such as this, regardless of guilt. You are their perfect scapegoat._

Is that all he has to say? I've already figured out that much by myself.

Noting my raised eyebrow, Schneizel merely laughs, before continuing on.

" _Of course, if it was that easy, then this trial would've been a non-issue. All we would've needed to do is play the role of the defendant, simply win the case outright using ironclad evidence. But I'm afraid it's not that simple, Hei."_

"Explain." I command.

" _Right now, the political situation in this country is near its breaking point. The king has been rotting in his grave for three years, while the Queen mourns behind closed doors, incapable of leading herself out of her own bedroom, let alone the country. The princess, although loved by the populace, is a mere 16 years old, and the regent is somehow even more politically useless than she is. Meanwhile, civil war rages in the neighboring Albion, with the threat of a hostile invasion rising each day, while the loss of its raw materials are devastating the already-waning economic prosperity of the country."_

I don't see the relevance, yet I remain silent.

" _Imagine, if you will, that you are a Tristanian commoner. Economic depression is killing your already-weak family business. Nobles take more and more out of your already-meager income, all the while ruthlessly controlling your entire life under an ironclad caste system. The country has no effective ruler to combat the rampant political corruption at home, let alone the threat of an invasion by neighboring Albion - which would find you impressed to fight to the death against foreign invaders, while the nobility sits back and directs their troops from their armchairs - Nobility, may I remind you, whom exist in in a 1:45 ratio to the common class."_

" _Do you know what happens next, Hei?_

Revolution.

A complete political and economic collapse of an entire nation just waiting to happen.

" _This isn't just about one isolated incident anymore. Regardless of your innocence or guilt, the events of this trial are directly entangled with the stability of this country. It was a stroke of luck that you were there to the prosecutors - prosecutors who are backed by individuals at the highest levels of the Tristanian government. Every step of this trial will be contrived and manipulated to such a ridiculous extent to, with absolute certainty, condemn you to death."_

"...Then, what will you do, Schneizel?" I respond warily. I can't see a way out of this situation.

" _What will_ _ **we**_ _do? Well, the solution to this is quite simple, really._ "

" _All we need to do, Hei...is win_."

Win?

Win the trial?

Win a legal case in a court managed leveraged by a government actively trying to find me guilty?!

"How…?"

" _We'll fight them. Not on a battlefield, or on a duelist's square, but in that very same courtroom they've set up for the express purpose of putting your neck in a noose. No matter how corrupt their methods are, we'll fight dirtier. Coercion, bribery, intimidation, assassination, we'll use any and every trick in the book to leave them with no choice_ _ **but**_ _to acquit you."_

"Impossible."

" _At this point, possible or not, if either of us want to make it out of this mess alive, this is the only option we have."_

I can't argue there.

" _Now I need to know, Hei...will you join me in this?"_

Join him?

" _I do have a plan to succeed. Given the current circumstances, I'd give it about a 65% chance of success. However, if we do not mutually cooperate, playing off of the best of each other's abilities, and most importantly, if there is any lapse in execution at all...we'll both be condemned to hang, with Louise soon to follow. So I ask you again, Hei. Will you join me?"_

I stare at him, searching for any hint of deception or malice to corroborate the growing feeling of danger in my gut. Yet, I detect nothing.

Somehow, that doesn't reassure me.

...But it's not like I have any other option.

Taking the initiative, I extend my remaining gloved hand, which he reaches out to grasp firmly.

"So be it." I respond.

Finally, his calm mask disappears, and his amiable smirk morphs into a cold-blooded smile.

" _Then let us begin."_

XXX

(Louise's Dorm)

Li was **gone.**

That was the sole thought in Louise's mind as she lay motionless, faint sobs emanating from her small form.

In her 16 years of life, she'd been whipped, beaten, ridiculed, or flat-out ignored by nearly everyone she'd met - save Cattelya, Founder bless her soul.

But Li...Li was different.

He was one of the most powerful, ruthless mages she'd ever met, possibly even stronger than her mother. Someone like him shouldn't have even spared her a second glance, but he did. Even when she treated him like an animal, he stood by her, listened to her, comforted her when she cried...

Louise smiled softly, remembering the feeling of her head buried in his chest.

But it didn't matter anymore, did it? She'd finally met someone that protected about her, that cared about her, and they pointed guns at his head and took him away in **chains**.

Why? Why couldn't the world let her have happiness? What grievous sin had she committed against the Founder for her to deserve this? Why…?

Quietly, Louise continued to cry.

XX

Louise didn't know how much time had passed since they took Li away. An hour? A day?

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Dimly, she was able to make out a faint knocking on her door. But nothing mattered anymore, so why should she care?

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Again, the knocks came, more powerfully this time. But Louise couldn't bring herself to move.

The knocking had stopped, finally. Good. Louise wished that whoever it was, be it Kirche, Tabitha, or anyone else, that they would just go awa...

 **Knock.**

The force behind the knock startled Louise, causing her to clench involuntary.

Finally, she pulled herself off of the floor, before hesitantly walking towards the entrance.

She slowly cracked open the large, oaken door an inch, wondering just who was outside, before her eyes widened in shock.

For standing before her was none other than the young, black-haired boy she'd summoned not a week before.

XXX

As always, thank you for reading!

-Kavaznya


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